The Democratic National Committee Rules Committee voted on Wednesday (July 24) to nominate the party’s presidential candidate through a remote roll call vote, instead of waiting for the Democratic National Convention to personally vote for the successor to President Biden. This means that the official nomination for Kamala Harris may begin on August 1.
This decision was made by the Democratic Party in response to Biden’s withdrawal announcement four days ago, in order to avoid lawsuits from Ohio Republicans, as the current law in the state mandates that the deadline for nominating candidates is August 7.
The remote roll call vote, to be conducted using virtual technology, is expected to take place in the first week of August.
According to the rules approved by the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee on Wednesday, presidential candidates must formally announce their candidacy by 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday and submit signatures from at least 300 delegates by the following Tuesday (July 30), with no more than 50 signatures from any single state.
Vice President Kamala Harris is currently the sole Democratic candidate running and has garnered enough delegate votes to secure the nomination. She has the support of President Biden, Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress, former President Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
If Harris is the only candidate, the vote will take place on August 1. However, co-chair of the DNC Rules Committee Leah Daughtry stated that if another candidate enters the race and secures 300 delegate signatures, the vote may commence on August 3.
After the presidential candidate is nominated, the new rules allow for the nominee to directly designate a running mate without the need for another remote vote.
The new regulations also stipulate that there will be ceremonial votes for the presidential and vice-presidential nominees at the Democratic National Convention, scheduled to be held in Chicago from August 19 to 22. While the ceremonial vote for the presidential nominee will be conducted through a roll call, the vote for the vice-presidential nominee may be done through a verbal voting process.