The deadline for Democratic National Committee delegates to send in their votes to elect the Democratic presidential nominee eclipsed at 6 p.m. ET on Monday.
Vice President Kamala Harris was the only candidate who qualified for the virtual roll call electronic ballot – getting more than the required 300 delegates to back her. The DNC said she already had the majority of delegate support as of Friday afternoon.
Results of the vote were not immediately available Monday evening, but she is the presumed winner.
The virtual roll call began Thursday after the delegates voted to nominate in Harris online to get in a nominee before state ballot deadlines.
DNC leaders argued that voting in Harris before the convention, slated to begin Aug. 19, would be too late and could open up possibilities for Republicans to litigate Harris being on the ballot in states like Ohio that have ballot deadlines of Aug. 7.
Harris will also be ceremoniously sworn in during the convention in Chicago, alongside her vice president.
She has yet to announce her running mate choice. Once she does, the DNC chair will have the responsibility of approving the VP pick without a delegate vote, per the committee rules.
The virtual roll call format was also used in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delegates in the rules committee chose to adopt the format again to ensure Harris would be on all state ballots, given the lateness of the DNC convention, and submitted their votes for Harris “quickly.”
“The outpouring of support we have witnessed for the Vice President has been unprecedented. We knew your ballots would come back quickly,” DNC chair Jaime Harrison said on a call Friday.
Harris said Friday she would accept the nomination on Monday when the votes are all tallied.
“Of course I will officially accept your nomination next week once the virtual voting period is closed, but already I’m happy to know that we have enough delegates to secure the nomination. And later this month, we will gather in Chicago, united as one party where we’re going to have an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together,” Harris said on the DNC call.
Democrats coalesced behind the vice president in mere days after President Biden dropped his 2024 bid in mid July. No competitive candidates came forward to challenge Harris and she was able to clinch the nomination despite never having won a presidential primary.
