Kamala Harris receives enough delegates to become Democratic nominee

NEW YORK: Kamala Harris has officially received the necessary amount of votes from delegates to become the Democratic US presidential nominee and the first woman of color at the top of a major party ticket, the Democratic National Committee chairman said on Friday.

"I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday," said DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison in Chicago, the venue where the Democratic National Convention will take place from August 19 through August 22.

"The fact that we can say today, just one day after we opened voting that the vice president has crossed the majority threshold and will officially be our nominee next week — folks that is simply outstanding. You returned your nomination petitions at lightning speed. You made your voices heard and what you said was clear: We are not going back. We have to send Kamala Harris to the White House,” he added.

Harris later thanked the delegates for their support and said she will officially accept the nomination during the convention in Chicago.

"Later this month, we will gather in Chicago, united as one party we're going to have an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together. We are going to win this election,” the VP stated.

Although Harris has taken enough delegates to reaffirm her candidacy, the official results will be announced by Monday, August 5 which is the last day for the delegates to return and submit their ballots.

The virtual voting began on Thursday, August 1st and Harris crossed the threshold after just one day of voting.

Almost 4,700 delegates were supposed to cast their ballots electronically from wherever they were as the voting was done virtually.