DNC advances plan to nominate new 2024 ticket in online vote

Moments after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race Sunday afternoon, members of the Democratic National Committee met to advance plans to pick a new nominee in an online vote that could be held in a matter of days.

The DNC’s credentialing committee met online Sunday to approve the slate of more than 4,700 delegates for the party’s Aug. 19-22 convention in Chicago, and members confirmed they are moving ahead with a previous plan to choose the party’s presidential nominee in an online vote by Aug. 7. 

“We are saddened that he is stepping aside as a candidate,” DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Co-Chairman James Roosevelt said of Mr. Biden’s announcement. “I am also convinced that we are beginning today the process of choosing a very strong Democratic successor for him as president and with that president, a Democratic vice president.”

The committee is scheduled to meet again Friday to determine whether they will actually go through with the online vote now that Mr. Biden has dropped out. His was to be the only name on the ballot when Democrats planned to vote online in the coming days. 

Democratic Party officials initially planned the virtual nomination of Mr. Biden to ensure his name made it onto the ballot in Ohio, which had an Aug. 7 filing deadline. 

Ohio moved the date to Sept. 1, but Democrats forged ahead with the online plan, saying the Sept. 1 date would be legally challenged.

Mr. Biden withdrew from the race on Sunday, calling into question how the party will choose his replacement.

Mr. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on top of the ticket. That doesn’t guarantee she’ll be the nominee although it gives her a significant advantage over other prospects, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. 

The vast majority of the 4,000 delegates were pledged to Mr. Biden after he swept the 2024 Democratic primary, and they are likely to heavily factor in his endorsement of Ms. Harris, But they are not bound to vote for her as president. 

There are an additional 739 “superdelegates” made up of members of Congress and other party officials, who will also vote on a candidate. 

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are likely superdelegates and have endorsed Ms. Harris, as will many influential House and Senate Democrats, who are also superdelegates, including Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, whose support of Mr. Biden was critical to his nomination in 2020.  

Ms. Harris and any other candidate for the nomination would require the endorsement of roughly 300 delegates to have their name entered into consideration.

All those procedures are established under the current rules.

What is not clear is whether the nominee will be decided at the convention or settled in the online vote in early August.  

“I don’t know if the DNC is more or less inclined now to conduct the roll-call vote virtually. But they are pressing forward with that plan. Every action being taken is pointing in that direction,” said Josh Putnam, party rules expert and founder of FHQ Strategies LLC, a nonpartisan political consulting venture.

While Democrats have ensured an online vote can happen, there has already been backlash over the idea, which is likely to escalate now that the ticket is wide open.

Some have called for a “mini-primary” that would allow the party more time to consider alternative candidates.

DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison on Sunday did not say whether the online vote intended to pick the nominee by Aug. 7 will actually happen.

“We will execute the most successful convention in our party’s lifetime,” Mr. Harrison said Sunday during the DNC meeting. “And thanks to you, we will nominate a Democratic president and we will defeat Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.”

In a social media post, Mr. Harrison said more information will be revealed in the coming days and promised “a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

The process of choosing a new nominee, he said, “will be governed by established rules and procedures of the party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.”