DNC says no virtual vote to nominate Biden will begin before August

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on Wednesday that there will be no virtual vote to officially nominate President Biden before August.

In a letter to members of the DNC Rules Committee, obtained by The Hill, the committee’s co-chairs wrote: “We have confirmed with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Convention that no virtual voting will begin before August 1.”

The letter, first reported by CBS Newsemphasizes that the virtual voting process will not be “rushed” and argues that the solution in Ohio to put Biden on the state’s ballot “will not come into effect until September 1st”, that is, after the start of the convention on August 19th .

The DNC was expected to finalize a plan to hold a virtual roll call vote in July, but setting the official vote for after August 1 is the first time they have set a clear timeline.

Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) told reporters during a Biden campaign press conference Wednesday that a DNC meeting scheduled for Friday had been scheduled “for many months” but that it was “never conceived to be a virtual call.”

“That virtual vote won’t happen until the first of August, and we just need to complete it probably by August 15th to make sure those signatures on things are at the secretaries of state,” he added.

That plan for a virtual call before the convention was originally made to ensure Biden appeared on the ballot in Ohio after the DNC was notified that the convention’s timing did not meet the Buckeye State’s deadline for certifying the party’s presidential nominee.

But on June 2, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed legislation to extend the deadline from August 7 to August 31. And since then, Biden’s poor debate performance last month has caused concern among Democrats about whether he should remain in office. top of the ticket.

The Biden campaign defended the virtual call plan. But some skepticism remained, and House Democrats wrote a letter earlier this week warning the DNC not to move forward with its plan to nominate the incumbent before the convention begins.

Lawmakers distributed a letter Tuesday arguing that it is “a terrible idea” to hold an “unnecessary and unprecedented” roll call vote, arguing that it could “profoundly undermine Democratic morale and unity…at the worst possible time.”

Supporters of the letter called on the DNC to cancel plans for virtual roll call voting and to “refrain from any extraordinary procedures” that could be seen as restricting debate or forcing early nominations. And they noted that Biden has told members of Congress in recent days that if a Democrat wants to challenge his nomination, they can do so at the convention.

The letter marked a resurgence of unrest within the Democratic Party after public scrutiny of Biden at the top of the ticket took a brief pause following the assassination attempt at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

Before the shooting, about 20 Democrats came out in public to call for Biden to withdraw from the race.

Earlier Tuesday, DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison responded to pollster Nate Silver online during the Ohio voting deadline after Silver accused the committee of “blatantly lying” about the dates.

Harrison responded in a long post, saying that under the Ohio Constitution, the law signed by DeWine will not go into effect for 90 days, which would be September 1st.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story