Democrats to hold Aug 1-5 virtual vote on Harris presidential pick

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention will hold an Aug 1-5 virtual vote to formally pick Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's nominee for president in a Nov 5 election, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said on Tuesday.

Almost 4,700 delegates will cast their ballots electronically from their homes or wherever they are and they will have to return their ballots by Monday, August 5. 

Harris obtained the presumptive position of Democratic nominee for the presidential election after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race after immense pressure on July 21 and he later endorsed the VP for presidency. 

But before Biden’s endorsement, Harris had already gained support from other Democrats and started to campaign for the election in November. 

USA Today reported that within 24 hours of Biden stepping down from the election race, Harris had secured more than 1,976 delegates required to be officially nominated. 

The DNC stated that over 3,923 delegates from across the US petitioned to see Harris on the ballot for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

According to USA Today, Harris had the support of 99% of delegates eligible for voting and over 84% of the delegates had signed for the VP to serve as the candidate for the Democratic Party. 

The DNC had stated that the Democrats who wanted to have their names on the ballots had to get the signatures of 300 delegates — not more than 50 from a single state — by Tuesday. 

The DNC later revealed that no Democrat other than Harris succeeded in getting 300 signatures for the ballot. 

It is apparent that Harris will turn out to be the Democratic presidential nominee as the virtual voting wraps up on Monday, she will accept the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago which is set to begin on August 19 through August 22.