The Democratic National Committee will conduct a virtual roll call vote in early August, several weeks before the start of the DNC in Chicago, to identify the party’s nominee for the presidency.
While Ohio officials have said they changed their policies to ensure Democrats will be able to have a nominee on the November ballot, the DNC has said they will make their nomination official prior to the original Aug. 7 ballot access deadline in order to strengthen their position against any legal challenges in that state or anywhere else in the U.S.
Those rules were approved by the DNC’s Rules Committee during a meeting on Wednesday.
Here’s a timeline of how the process is expected to play out.
Step 1: Declaration of Intent to Run
With the committee adopting their virtual roll call rules on Wednesday, candidates can declare their intention to run beginning on Thursday, July 25.
That process will remain open until 6 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, July 27, according to the party’s rules committee.
At this time, only Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled her intention to run.
Step 2: Obtaining Delegate Support
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After declaring their intention to run for the presidential nomination, candidates will have until Tuesday, July 30 to obtain support of enough delegates to demonstrate viability of their campaigns for the position atop the ticket.
According to the rules adopted by the committee, candidates must obtain the support of at least 300 delegates to demonstrate their viability. A candidate can only obtain signatures of 50 delegates from any specific state in order to show widespread appeal.
Step 3: Vote to Determine Nominee
Any candidate who obtains the signatures of at least 300 delegates will be eligible for the virtual roll call vote, which is currently scheduled to take place on Thursday, Aug. 1.
If a candidate receives a majority of the vote during that first vote, they will be designated as the party’s nominee. If no candidate receives a majority, the top-two vote-getters will advance to a run-off ballot, which is also expected to occur on Aug. 1.
Step 4: Choosing Candidate’s Running Mate
After the nominee is officially chosen, they will have the task of identifying their vice-presidential nominee no later than Aug. 7.
According to the Rules Committee, that nominee will be made official by the DNC chair.
Both candidates on the ticket will be present at the DNC in Chicago for a ceremonial vote showing support for their spot atop the ballot, though delegates will still get a chance to vote on the party’s official platform.
