WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said Friday it was preparing to mark a “special historic moment” as Democratic delegates cast online ballots to formally make her their party’s nominee.
The campaign announced that it would hold a call with supporters on Friday afternoon.
The Democratic National Committee has been pushing ahead with a virtual vote to nominate Harris, nearing the culmination of a turbulent process that was upended by President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection.
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began voting via secure email on Thursday, and the voting will remain open until Monday evening. Harris has not yet chosen her running mate, and she’s expected to interview candidates over the weekend.
The formal nomination is expected to be finalized by Aug. 7 even though the party’s convention in Chicago isn’t scheduled to begin for more than two more weeks. Democratic officials have said the accelerated timeline was necessary because of an Aug. 7 deadline to ensure candidates appear on the Ohio ballot.
Harris was endorsed by Biden shortly after he dropped out of the race, catapulting her to the forefront of the campaign to beat Republican nominee Donald Trump. No other major candidate challenged Harris for the nomination, and she was the only choice for delegates under party rules that required pledges of support from at least 300 delegates, with no more than 50 signatures from any one delegation.
Any delegate who wants to vote for someone other than Harris will be tallied as “present.”
Democrats still plan a state-by-state roll call during the convention, the traditional way that a nominee is chosen. However, that will be purely ceremonial because of the online voting.
The party insists it has to have its nominee in place before its convention opens in Chicago on Aug. 19 to make sure it meets ballot access deadlines in Ohio — an argument that the state’s Republicans dispute.
Ohio state lawmakers have since changed the deadline, but the modification doesn’t take effect until Sept. 1. Democratic attorneys warn that waiting until after the initial deadline to determine a presidential nominee could prompt legal challenge.
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