WASHINGTON — Deputy Director Kamala Harris’ The campaign said Friday it was preparing to mark a “special historic moment” Democratic Representatives cast their votes online to formally appoint her as their party’s candidate.
The campaign announced that a phone call with supporters would take place on Friday afternoon.
The Democratic National Committee has continued to a virtual vote to nominate Harris, near the end of a turbulent process that was disrupted by President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election.
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention Voting began Thursday via secure email and will remain open until Monday evening. Harris has not yet chosen her running mate and is expected to interview candidates over the weekend.
The formal nomination is expected to be finalized on Aug. 7, even though the party convention in Chicago is not scheduled for more than two 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 Biden dropped out of the race, catapulting her to the forefront of the campaign to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump. No other major candidate challenged Harris for the nomination, and she was the only choice for delegates under party rules requiring endorsements from at least 300 delegates, with no more than 50 signatures from a delegation.
Any delegate who chooses to vote for someone other than Harris is considered “present.”
Democrats are still planning a state-by-state roll call during the convention, the traditional way a nominee is chosen, but that will be purely ceremonial because of the online voting.
The party insists it must have its candidate in place before the party convention begins in Chicago on August 19 to ensure it meets the deadline for voting in Ohio. Republicans in that state dispute that argument.
Ohio lawmakers have since changed the deadline, but the change won’t take effect until Sept. 1. Democratic advocates warn that waiting until after the original deadline to determine a presidential nominee could lead to legal problems.
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