WASHINGTON — Democratic National Convention delegates can make Vice President Kamala Harris their presidential nominee — and even start approving her yet-to be-named running mate — in online voting beginning next week, as the party races to coalesce around a new top of its ticket heading into November.
The convention's rules committee on Wednesday passed a proposal where delegates from around the country will be able to vote on potential presidential nominees to replace President Joe Biden, who abandoned his reelection bid last weekend.
But Harris is the only major Democrat to announce publicly that she's seeking the nomination, meaning she'll almost-certainly be approved in a single round of virtual balloting beginning August 1 — some 18 days before the party's convention opens in Chicago.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison referenced the unprecedented shakeup in the presidential race left by Biden's bowing out, telling a virtual meeting of the convention's rulemaking arm, "In the darkness of night, we see our brightest stars."
The plan was approved after more than 90 minutes of online discussion that featured little objection. The final vote to pass the full set of convention's rules was 157-3.
They 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, by the evening of July 30.
If multiple candidates qualify, it could spark multiple rounds of voting over several days. But, if Harris is the only candidate, voting would begin August 1. Delegates voting "uncommitted," or for another candidate who hasn't qualified under the rules, will have their choices converted simply to "present."
Delegates will receive ballots via secure email. The process will be designed not only to formally nominate Harris, but to eventually do the same for her vice presidential selection prior to August 7 — giving her a tight window to pick a running mate.
Who she might choose is unclear. Early favorites include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, but potentially half a dozen other candidates are being considered.
Biden dropped out of the race last weekend and endorsed Harris, and hundreds of Democratic members of Congress and governors, as well as leading labor unions and activist organizations have since backed her to replace him. An Associated Press survey of delegates to the convention also revealed that the vice president has the support of well more than the 1,976 delegates she'll need to win on a first ballot.
That doesn't automatically make her the nominee, though, and the party is pushing ahead with the virtual voting process because it says it can't wait until the convention starts to formally choose its nominee. It blames a deadline to appear on the Ohio ballot stating that candidates must be selected by August 7.
Ohio state lawmakers there have since changed that, but the modification doesn't take effect until September 1 — and DNC attorneys warn that waiting until after the initial deadline to determine a presidential nominee could prompt legal challenges.
"Our party remains steadfast to an open, fair and transparent nominating process," said Minyon Moore, chair of the Democratic convention. "We will do this right."
