Democrats poised to nominate Kamala Harris in virtual vote ahead of convention

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is on track to officially become the Democratic nominee for president as soon as next week.

Democrats spelled out the schedule that is expected to conclude with Harris as their 2024 standard bearer during a Wednesday rules meeting. There, party officials agreed to move to a virtual nomination ahead of the national convention that's set to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago.

So far, only Harris has publicly declared her intention of running for president in the wake of President Joe Biden's announcement on Sunday that he would not would not seek a second term, despite cruising through the Democratic primaries earlier this year. Harris has already accumulated more than enough delegate support to win the nomination since Biden, who is 81, quit the race. But they must still vote for it to count.

Under the new DNC rules, any presidential candidate has from Thursday until Saturday at 6 p.m. ET to file a declaration to compete in the virtual nomination process. Anyone interested needs to collect 300 delegate signatures to qualify, with no more than 50 coming from one state. Voting will begin on or around Aug. 3 if anyone besides Harris meets the specifications. It will start on Aug. 1 if only one person qualifies.

A virtual roll call had long been planned for Democrats due to a prolonged dispute in Ohio and to avoid controversy over 2024 ballot deadlines in other states.

Democrats also clarified at Wednesday's meeting that only the party's presidential pick can nominate a vice presidential candidate. That decision means Harris is likely to make her selection before August 7, which is in line with an old deadline in Ohio for presidential candidates to get their names on the Election Day ballot.

It's a schedule that gives Harris a little more than two weeks to vet and select a running mate from a group that includes at least seven prominent party figures, though that list is likely even larger.

A ceremonial vote for both the Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees will also take place at the Chicago convention, which runs through Aug. 22.

But the real work is set to take place virtually starting next week as Democrats await word on whether anyone raises their hand before the end of this weekend to challenge Harris. So far, any likely opponents have said they will not run.

The signature threshold to participate in a contested nomination process has been in place since at least 1996, Leah Daughtry, the convention rules committee co-chair, said. That is equal to about 6% of the convention's delegates.

The all-important number to win the nomination on the first ballot is 1,976, when only pledged delegates can vote. If voting goes to a second round, a candidate would need 2,351 votes to win, because automatic delegates would be eligible to vote. That group includes Democratic members of Congress, party chairs and governors who were formerly referred to as superdelegates.

During Wednesday's meeting, Democrats' outside counsel said that the DNC's "good conscience" rule allows delegates who were pledged to Biden to switch their votes to another candidate.

Party officials and elected delegates argued at the meeting that the virtual roll call is needed to avoid litigation from Republicans who could try to keep the Democratic nominee off the ballot in Ohio and elsewhere.

Before the state changed its law, Ohio had a deadline of Aug. 7 for ballot access. The secretary of state's office directed election officers to implement the change immediately — but the law does not go into effect until Aug. 31, and Democrats say that's a legal risk they can not afford to take.

Democrats had planned to approve the move to a virtual nomination at a meeting earlier in the month. But they briefly punted in the aftermath of Biden's rocky debate performance against Republican Donald Trump, which led to blowback about the incumbent's candidacy from a raft of Democratic donors, lawmakers and like-minded celebrities.

Republicans have attacked the party's plans to hold an electronic voting process and change their nominee after primary elections were held. Democrats challenged claims the process was undemocratic on Wednesday by noting the party does not take secret votes. Candidates will be updated throughout the process on voting progress and will be able to request and receive a full vote tally when it is over.

The party will also engage in a phone-based campaign to make sure delegates have access to voting and are aware of the rules.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats tee up Harris nomination vote ahead of convention