Democratic Party sets in motion process to virtually elect its presidential nominee

Washington: The ruling Democratic Party in the US has set in motion a process to virtually elect its presidential nominee for the November general elections, a day after incumbent President Joe Biden opted out of the race and endorsed his deputy Kamala Harris.

The move was announced by Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison and Rules Committee co-chair Minyon Moore in a memo on Monday.

According to the memo, the process to elect the party's new presidential candidate would be completed by August 7. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which would formally certify this election of a nominee, is scheduled to be held from August 19 to 22.

Harris, 59, is the only Democratic party candidate to have announced her candidature after Biden's shocking announcement on Sunday and she has been endorsed by a majority of the top party leaders.

"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 memorandum said.

According to it, the DNC will use an electronic voting system for the delegates to vote. To participate in this virtual voting process, the candidate should meet three criteria: file a formal declaration of candidacy with the committee, meet the party and legal qualifications to be president, and gather a minimum of at least 300 delegates with no more than 50 delegates from one state.

If there is more than one candidate, they would have an option to make their case before the delegates. The virtual voting, if required, will be held on August 7.

"I want to assure you that we are committed to an open and fair nominating process. 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 on August 7 of this year," DNC Chair Jaime Harrison told reporters.

Rules Committee co-chair Moore said, "While this situation is unprecedented, the process we're prepared to undertake is not." Though Biden's endorsement almost seals Harris' position as the presidential nominee of her party, she still needs to get elected by the party's delegates during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19-22.

Biden has won 3,896 delegates as against 1,976 required to win the party's presidential nomination.

Following Biden's decision, Harris, who has been serving as the US' first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president since 2021, immediately secured the endorsement of former president Bill Clinton, thus making it a bit easier for her to win the delegate battle during the party convention.

An "overwhelming majority" of state Democratic Party chairs have announced their support for Vice President Harris as their nominee for president, the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) has said in a statement.