WASHINGTON – The Democratic Party plans to push forward with a virtual roll call in which delegates to its convention can choose a presidential nominee before they gather next month in Chicago — despite Vice President Kamala Harris being overwhelmingly favored to replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.
The convention rules committee will meet Wednesday to approve how the virtual roll call will work, but a draft of the plan was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday night. It does not list a date for when virtual voting would begin, but Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said the process will be completed by Aug. 7 — or 12 days before the party's convention begins.
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“We are living through an unprecedented moment in history and, as a party, we are tackling it with the seriousness that it deserves,” Harrison said on a conference call with reporters. "We are prepared to undertake a transparent, swift and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a nominee who represents our values.”
He also said Democrats "can, and will, be both fast and fair as we execute this nomination.”
Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday, ending weeks of fighting among Democrats, many of whom feared he was not up to the rigors the campaign — much less a second term — following his poor debate against Republican Donald Trump last month.
The president endorsed Harris to replace him on the Democratic ticket, but she won't formally do so until nominated by the party's convention delegates. The rules of the virtual roll call her party is planning require Harris, and any other potential Democrat willing to challenge her, to submit 300 electronic signatures from convention delegates, not more than 50 of whom can be from the same state.
The vice president, and any other candidate qualifying, would then have a few days to lobby delegates for their support before a virtual vote is held. Multiple rounds could be required, but the process would still be completed no later than Aug. 7.
That date is important because it was the original deadline to qualify for the presidential ballot in Ohio. Lawmakers there have since changed that, but the modification doesn't take effect until Sept. 1 — and DNC attorneys have warned that waiting until after the initial deadline to determine a nominee could prompt legal challenges.
Democrats first announced in May that they'd hold a virtual roll call. Biden's withdrawal from the race doesn't change its plans, only complicates them.
Harris is still in the strongest position by far to be her party's nominee. Since Biden left the race and endorsed her, the vice president has been backed by hundreds of Democratic lawmakers, governors and some of the country’s most powerful unions.
While only 300 signatures are required to qualify for the virtual ballot, an AP survey of convention delegates from across the country found that, by Monday night, Harris has the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win the nomination on a first ballot at the convention itself.
Meanwhile, no major Democrat has announced plans to challenge Harris, who would be the first woman of color nominated for president by a major party.
Democratic National Convention chair Minyon Moore said Monday that the calendar made any possibility of a convention floor fight for the nomination untenable.
"An in-person, contested convention simply cannot accommodate the potential of a multi-round nomination process for the presidential nominee, who then must select a vice presidential nominee, and still meet the ballot access certification requirements in each of the states necessary to the Democratic path to victory,” Moore told reporters. “Once in person in Chicago, we will be united as a party.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 27-year-old Florida Democrat who was a leading voice for outreach to young voters for the Biden reelection campaign, posted on X on Monday: “Just because the VP is such a unifying candidate & getting many endorsements, doesn’t mean this process isn’t open. Anyone can run.”
In 2020, the in-person Democratic convention was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and states used a virtual process to formally nominate Biden. Democrats meeting in Chicago still plan a state-by-state roll call that is a fixture of nominating conventions, although it will likely be ceremonial since virtual voting should have settled who the nominee will be.