As DNC pushes virtual vote, Harris' nomination all but certain

WASHINGTON ― The Democratic National Committee plans to plow ahead with a virtual nomination ahead of next month's convention as Vice President Kamala Harris gathers the support she needs from party delegates to replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

A memo shared by the committee on Monday evening said the nominating process “must have an electronic voting component.” The purpose is to ensure that the Democratic nominee is on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and the party is united by the time of the convention, it says.

“Working with the Convention Rules Committee, the Democratic Party is prepared to shift the nominating portion of the Convention to an electronic format to ensure that our Democratic nominees for President and Vice President are certified before state ballot access deadlines,” the memo states.

“The in-person portion of the Convention in Chicago will then showcase the Party’s Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees and their winning agenda to rally voters and defeat Donald Trump in the fall,” it adds.

The convention's rules committee will discuss the proposal at a Wednesday meeting. But with elected officials and state party chairs offering Harris their full support, the virtual nomination process was all but certain to move forward.

Long before President Joe Biden's sudden exit from the race, party officials and rules committee members argued an electronic voting process was necessary. Ohio's deadline for getting on the ballot was Aug. 7. Democrats' convention is in Chicago from Aug. 19-22.

Ohio has since changed the law and instructed election officers to ensure its immediate implementation. Democrats have continued to push for an early nomination anyhow.

"Let me be clear: We remain laser focused on winning in November. Let me also add and be clear here that we will deliver a presidential nominee by August 7 of this year," said Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison in a press call Monday evening.

The earlier push to hold a virtual roll call before the August convention came under scrutiny from Democrats who wanted Biden to step aside and let another candidate run in his place. But now that the president has quit the campaign and endorsed Harris the furor around the issue has largely dissipated.

The committee on Monday laid out a process that will give candidates an unspecified period of time to gather at least 300 nominating signatures from delegates to qualify for the electronic ballot. If only one candidate qualifies, according to the memo, the next step in the process will be electronic voting.

But if multiple candidates qualify, "a period of no more than several days will follow” in which candidates will compete for delegates' support.

There could be several rounds of electronic voting if no candidate wins a majority on the first ballot. But as of Monday, Harris had enough pledged delegate support to secure the nomination.

Democratic National Convention Chair Minyon Moore said Monday that electronic voting would be helpful even if the nomination were in dispute.

"An in-person contested convention simply can not accommodate the potential of a multi-round nomination process for the presidential nominee, who then must select a vice presidential nominee and still meet the ballot certification access requirements in each of the states necessary to the Democrats' path to victory," she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: With DNC virtual vote, Harris close to locking Democratic nomination