WASHINGTON – The Democratic Party plans to move forward with a virtual roll call in which delegates to its convention will be able to choose a presidential candidate before meeting in person next month in Chicago with the vice president. Kamala Harris heavily favored now that President Joe Biden has abandoned his re-election bid.
The convention’s rules committee will meet Wednesday to approve how the virtual call will work, but a draft of the plan they must approve was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.
The proposal does not list a date for the start of the virtual call, but Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said the process will be completed by August 7.
“We can and will be swift and fair in executing this appointment,” Harrison on a conference call with reporters.
The party says the virtual call will potentially feature multiple rounds of voting on nominees. To qualify, candidates must have electronic signatures from 300 convention delegates.
O Democratic National Convention premieres in person on August 19 in Chicago. State delegations at the meeting began pledging their near-unanimous support for Harris hours after Biden announced he was abandoning his re-election bid on Sunday.
Biden endorsed Harris shortly after announcing he was abandoning his campaign.
That doesn’t formally make her the party’s nominee, but the vice president spent hours on Sunday calling more than 100 party leaders, members of Congress, labor leaders and leaders of advocacy and civil rights organizations to say she would get it. the indication on your own. right and to ensure that they would support her.
Since then, Harris has been endorsed by hundreds of Democratic lawmakers, prominent governors and some of the country’s most powerful unions, as well as the Florida and North and South Carolina delegations to the convention.
Biden’s exit from the race and Harris’ endorsement ended weeks of doubts about whether he would be up to the rigors of a campaign and a second term after his term. dismal debate performance against Republican Donald Trump late last month.
Democrats first announced in May that they were using a virtual call in order to meet a deadline in Ohio and ensure Biden’s name appeared on the ballot in that state.
Ohio lawmakers have since overturned the previous deadline, but the DNC said that because the change won’t take effect until Sept. 1, the party will still have to resolve on its candidate before the original deadline or risk legal challenges.
In 2020, the in-person Democratic convention was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and states used a virtual system process to formally nominate Biden. When they meet in Chicago next month, Democrats will still hold a state-by-state slate of votes, which is a fixture of the nominating conventions, although it is largely ceremonial.
