President Biden is expected to receive the Democratic Party’s formal nomination early. Virtual Roll Call Voting The Democratic National Committee confirmed this on Friday, between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.
At the same time, some outside groups have reached out to delegates wondering what might happen if Mr. Biden were to vote. decided to step downFor example, in a public contest. Mr. Biden and his campaign have repeatedly said they have no plans to withdraw from the race.
The DNC Convention Rules Committee met virtually on Friday and reaffirmed that no votes will be held before Aug. 1 or after Aug. 7. The committee said DNC leadership will set a final date after its second committee meeting next week and adopt virtual roll call rules sometime before July 26.
Convention committee leaders and DNC staffers provided more details about the virtual roll call. Announced in MayBut recently Criticism from some Democrats as a way to speed up his nomination amid strong criticism over whether Mr Biden should remain the party’s nominee.
DNC Chair Jamie Harrison reaffirmed her support for the Biden-Harris candidacy at Friday’s meeting, telling lawmakers, “Because of each and every one of you, we will renominate President Biden and (Kamala) Harris.”
The DNC argued Friday that an early virtual roll call was needed to avoid a lawsuit in Ohio, where a major party must nominate a presidential candidate within 90 days of the election to appear on the ballot. This year, that date is Aug. 7.
Ohio has passed legislation to move the date to September 1, but Democrats say they still fear Republicans will block Biden from voting in the state because the bill has not yet taken effect. The campaign says early virtual voting could allow Democrats to meet similar deadlines in other states.
“My goal as a lawyer is to address and avoid all unnecessary legal risk. That’s why we need a virtual nomination process. The smartest and most prudent way to do it is to get that process done so that we can file a certified nomination in Ohio by August 7th,” said Dana Remus, a former White House counsel who advised the DNC on the process.
When one delegate asked how another candidate could challenge Mr. Biden on a virtual ballot, committee co-chair Leah Daughtry said, “Every challenger would have to have the verified support of hundreds of delegates.”
“Such a challenge has never been presented in a competitive primary in half a century, but the rules remain the same today as they did yesterday and in countless presidential cycles,” Daughtry added.
DNC staff said Friday that the virtual voting is expected to be similar to what delegates used during the 2020 pandemic. They added that members will be notified 24 hours before the virtual voting window opens.
The Democratic presidential nominee needs to win a majority of the 1,900 pledged delegates in the first round to clinch the nomination. Mr. Biden has currently secured about 3,900 pledged delegates.
Veronica Martinez, DNC executive director and delegate selection director, added that while the virtual ballot will show Mr. Biden as the “presumptive and sole qualified candidate,” delegates will have the option to indicate their preference for the president. She added that this would be the same as the 2020 virtual roll call vote.
Some groups have contacted delegates to let them know how the open convention will work and what will happen to the roll call vote if Mr. Biden steps down.
Two groups not affiliated with the DNC, Delegates are Democracy and the Welcome Party, formed in recent weeks and held a webinar on Friday in which Elaine Karmack, a longtime member of the DNC’s Rules and Regulations Committee, was invited as a special guest to answer questions from delegates and other listeners. Chris Dempsey, founder of Delegates are Democracy, said the group’s job is to provide information about the nominating process and not to advocate for Biden to drop out of the race.
“I can understand why they’re not discussing it (at the DNC). They don’t want to go public and undermine the president,” he added. “We’re trying to bridge that gap, which is understandable, but if we don’t address it, we’re all going to be worse off.”
Dempsey said more than 50 DNC delegates, many of whom were attending the convention for the first time, were on the call Friday, and most of those he spoke with supported Mr. Biden but were looking for more information about “whether the president should step down from the race.”
“These are people who when they first got nominated as delegates, they thought they were going to a party or a celebration,” Dempsey said. “And now, all of a sudden, they’re potentially carrying the weight of democracy on their shoulders.”
According to several delegates and DNC members, some DNC pledged delegates have received calls from the Biden campaign, some asking if they still plan to support Mr. Biden, others asking if they have questions about the convention.
A Democratic convention spokesperson said communicating with delegates is a “routine part of convention operations,” and that the convention committee has been engaging with state parties and delegates since 2023. They added that the convention political team has had more than 150 one-on-one calls with state delegate leaders since April.
A DNC delegate from Nevada said she and other colleagues received a call from Marian Williamson’s “Open the Convention” group, a leading Democratic candidate, asking if they could help file a notice to the DNC saying they would no longer vote for Mr. Biden and would like to request an open convention. The delegate said every delegate she knew who received such a call declined the offer.
An automated voice message from the Open the Convention hotline says, “We’re happy to work with you to ensure your input is heard at the next convention.”
CBS News has reached out to Open the Convention for comment.
