Why Democrats are seeking to finalise Biden's nomination by virtual vote before convention

Despite everything that has happened these past few weeks, Joe Biden is still set to clinch the Democratic nomination.

While both parties usually nominate their candidates at their respective conventions, this isn’t the case this year for the Democrats people in the know told Reuters.

Biden will be nominated in a virtual vote in late July – weeks before the party’s Chicago convention in August.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, the decision was made far before Biden’s terrible performance in the first debate.

But what do we know about the virtual vote? How will it work?

Let’s take a closer look:

What do we know?

How the entire thing will be pulled off remains unclear, those in the know including Chicago party officials told Reuters.

Aaron Regunberg, a member of the steering committee for Democratic group Pass the Torch, called the virtual vote a “terrible idea.”

Regunberg said the move would “deeply undermine the morale of Democrats – delegates, volunteers, grassroots organisers, donors and ordinary voters – at the worst possible time.”

Biden is under increasing pressure to bow out of his re-election campaign.

Questions over his physical and mental fitness have persisted since the debate.

However, Biden has repeatedly said he remains the best option at beating Trump.

He said that only the ‘Lord Almighty’ can convince him to quit.

Biden’s campaign aides, meanwhile, have said Trump’s assassination attempt will reduce the pressure on the president to step aside.

They say going ahead with the roll call would formalise Biden’s nomination.

However, confusion abounds about how this virtual process will be carried out even as senior leaders focus on salvaging Biden’s candidacy, sources said.

There does not appear to be any well-defined push to rally delegates around any other candidate ahead of the virtual vote.

What was the point of the early nomination?

The idea was to get around an Ohio law that could have kept Biden from the ballot if he wasn’t officially nominated by August 7.

The Democrats’ convention is on August 19.

But Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on June 2 signed a bill extending the deadline to August 31.

Which means Biden will appear on the Ohio ballot even if he is nominated at the Democratic convention.

But a virtual vote has other advantages.

Namely that it offers no chance of a battle on the convention floor that could humiliate the current president and even further destabilise the campaign.

What’s the process?

The Democrats’ credentials committees are slated to meet on July 19 and 21 to iron out the process.

Any virtual nomination process is likely to happen within days of those meetings, officials said.

Some officials with the Democratic National Committee and the Biden campaign said they expect a retread of 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Democrats held a virtual roll call that featured state officials backing Biden against the video backdrop of American landscapes.

Others said the early nomination process will be much less dramatic, with delegates filling out online voting forms.

Either way, Democrats plan to do a traditional roll call at the August convention with a mix of pre-recorded messages and live action, even though the formal nomination will have already taken place.

Who chooses the nominee?

The Democrats will have 4,532 delegates, or party representatives, at the Chicago convention.

This includes 3,788 pledged delegates and 744 superdelegates.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, needs to win a majority of the pledged delegates – around 1,895 — on the first roll call.

However, if Biden does not win a majority of the delegates, another round of voting will begin.

Now, superdelegates will enter the fray.

These representatives are free to choose whomever they like.

Biden has already won over 3,900 delegates during the Democratic primary.

While pledged delegates are expected to support Biden, there remain differing opinions on whether they are bound to support him.

Democratic National Committee officials have been making calls to delegates in recent days to identify any potential problems, officials told Reuters.

The delegates are expected to be given three options: support Biden, uncommitted or leave blank, according to party officials. All the delegates Reuters spoke to said they plan to support Biden.

On Thursday, Biden was asked about concerns that delegates will defect.

“Obviously they’re free to do whatever they want, but they — I get overwhelming support,” Biden said. “It’s not going to happen.”

What if Biden bows out?

The DNC would then have to select a new candidate during a special session.

The members are divided roughly equally between men and women as well as various constituency groups including labour leaders, LGBTQ representatives and racial minorities.

Of the total, 75 are appointed at-large by the chair, while the rest are elected in their respective states.

With inputs from Reuters