Republican Presidential Debate 2015 Rules: CNN Sets Regulations For Second GOP Showdown

The second GOP presidential primary debate is set to take place Wednesday. In order to keep up with the back-and-forth between the Republican candidates, it's best to understand the rules of the debate televised by CNN.

The main debate at 8 p.m. EDT will feature the same 10 candidates as the first one -- front-runner Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- as well as businesswoman Carly Fiorina, who was added to the field late in the game.

Before the main debate will be the so-called "happy hour" debate at 6 p.m. EDT featuring the less popular candidates Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Rick Santorum, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

CNN posted a video featuring journalist Tom Foreman outlining the basic rules for debate night, which can be found here. Below are the regulations set for the second GOP debate:

Supplies: Candidates can't bring much of anything with them. That means cell phones, tablets, notes or props to help illustrate points are all barred. Each presidential hopeful will be given a notepad, pen and glass of water.

Questions: The lion's share of the questions will come from CNN's panel of moderators. That group comprises CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, as well as radio host Hugh Hewitt. The moderators will also pose questions to the candidates that are culled from social media websites, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Subjects: There are three very broad topics scheduled to be covered Wednesday. The candidates will be discussing foreign policy, domestic policy and politics.

Answer time: While the subjects may be broad, the answers will be short. Candidates in the main debate will get just one minute to answer a question. They will also get just 30 seconds to provide a rebuttal if given the opportunity to respond to something said by another candidate. Candidates will be able to see timing lights to let them know if they go over their allotment.

Bonus time for early debate participants: There are some advantages to being in the B-debate. Those candidates will be given more time to answer questions, and should someone say something of particular note, a clip of the point can be played at the later debate so those candidates have a chance to respond.