Democrats are moving forward with plans to select their next presidential nominee virtually, despite President Joe Biden's dropping his re-election bid, the party announced Monday evening.
On a call with reporters outlining the rules, party officials were clear: The plan remains to formally nominate the presidential candidate before Aug. 7, which officials say is a critical deadline because of a potential legal issue in Ohio that they worry could force them off the ballot.
The party vowed in a memo that the online process will "mirror the candidate nomination rules used for in-person conventions to the greatest extent possible" but said the process will move incredibly quickly, with candidates given just days to declare their intentions to run and make their cases to voters.
“The work ahead may be unprecedented, but 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,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said. “We will deliver a presidential nominee by Aug. 7 of this year.”
The Democratic National Convention begins Aug. 19.
Biden stepped aside Sunday and immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who within a day has consolidated support from across the party. No one else has announced plans to seek the nomination, and the most commonly discussed names all took themselves out of contention.
With Biden out, his delegates to next month's convention — 99% of the pledged ones — can support whomever they want and are under no obligation to follow his wishes. And Democrats are eager to avoid making their nomination process look like a coronation.
The party’s Rules Committee will meet Wednesday to consider the plan for a virtual nomination. The panel, which has almost 200 members, has to approve the proposal before it can go into effect.
Harrison and Democratic National Convention Chair Minyon Moore laid out the nomination process in a memo, saying it will be "open and fair."
Other candidates will be able to run against Harris, but they will need to act soon, as DNC officials said the window could close as soon as this week.
To seek the nomination, any candidate needs at least 300 signatures from convention delegates, with no more than 50 from any one state. The candidate also has to declare a bid, meaning no one can be drafted to run. And delegates cannot support more than one candidate.
The party said it will establish a system that allows candidates to collect and submit signatures electronically.
If more than one candidate qualifies — and it's unclear right now whether any credible candidates will emerge to challenge Harris — they will have "a handful of days" to make their cases to delegates and voters, before the vote is cast.
The party had been preparing for the virtual roll call vote since May, when Ohio's Republican-controlled Legislature dragged its feet on fixing the deadline issue, meaning its fix technically will not go into effect until after Aug. 7.
There initially was little controversy about a virtual convention, because Biden's nomination was seen as guaranteed. But after Biden had a disastrous first debate and calls mounted for him to step aside, some Democrats called for a live voting process at an open convention.
