The Democratic National Committee rules committee voted Wednesday to hold a virtual roll call to nominate their party nominee — instead of waiting to vote for President Biden’s replacement in person at the Democratic National Convention.
The virtual vote adaptation means that the Democratic candidate, likely Vice President Kamala Harris, will have to put their vice presidential pick up for nomination before Aug. 7.
She has already reportedly started vetting VP candidates, including Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The virtual roll call is expected to happen in the first week of August.
Harris, who was endorsed by Biden to replace him for the nomination, is the only candidate who is currently up for election.
There was some pushback in the deliberations on taking up a virtual vote.
One delegate expressed she didn’t want to see the virtual platform become a “permanent expectation” because it takes away from transparency.
Otherwise, the DNC delegates all expressed their approval of the virtual vote measure.
Harris, 59, is expected to already have enough delegate backing to become the nominee.
Another candidate could still enter the race in the coming days, but the possibility is unlikely, as her top likely challengers have already endorsed her in the mere days since Biden dropped.
If Harris is the only candidate, the vote will happen on Aug. 1. If another candidate enters the race and has backing from 300 delegates, the vote will likely start Aug. 3, rules co-chair Leah Daughtry said.
Voting in Biden’s replacement before the Aug. 19 DNC in Chicago is meant to bypass ballot deadlines, especially in Ohio, where the deadline to name a candidate is Aug. 7.
“An in person convention simply cannot meet the ballot access certification requirements in each of the states necessary,” DNC outside counsel Patrick Moore said on the DNC call.
Moore argued that conventions have a history of being held in the third week of August and that states usually accommodate their state ballot deadlines for the convention dates.
But Democrats are especially worried that Republicans will litigate state ballot deadlines in 2024, so they want to ensure they meet the original Ohio deadline.
Biden suspending his campaign released all his delegates and they are free to “vote their conscience,” per the DNC’s rules.
Voters will not have any direct input in who the DNC delegates will elect as their party nominee, as the delegates will make the decision themselves and Biden was the candidate who won the delegates in the primary.