There is always controversy surrounding polls in US presidential elections, but this time round it has started early, with Californian Republican Fred Karger apparently excluded from a Fox News debate on the grounds that the broadcaster does not recognise the results of online polls.

For a presidential candidate to qualify for the debate, Fox News says – via Karger – that they must have garnered an average of at least 1% in five national polls leading up to the event, as well as officially registering as a candidate and meeting all constitutional requirements.

Karger claims that he achieved the necessary poll results, but Fox told him that because some of the research is based on online polling by Harris Interactive and Zogby, his claim is not valid.

Karger – the first openly gay presidential candidate – alleges that Fox “has changed its criteria just to keep me out”. In a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission, he cites Fox News stories that are themselves based on the results of online polls – including one of the ‘invalid’ Zogby polls that Karger cited in support of his claim to deserve a place at the debate.