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 meet in person next month in Chicago, with Vice President Kamala Harris heavily favored now that President Joe Biden has abandoned his reelection bid.
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.
“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.”
The Democratic National Convention opens in-person on Aug. 19. State delegations to the gathering began pledging their near-unanimous support for Harris in the hours after Biden announced he was abandoning his reelection bid on Sunday.
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.
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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 emerge as 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 — as well as members of the convention delegations in several states.
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 virtual process was necessary and could prevent possible floor fights in Chicago.
“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.