Democratic Party may be planning to nominate Biden via virtual vote before convention in August

By kevinhughes // 2024-07-18

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President Joe Biden is anticipated to secure the 2024 presidential nomination through a virtual vote held before the end of July, in advance of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August. Biden's principal deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, confirmed on Tuesday, July 16, that there's a plan to allow the DNC to organize a virtual roll call before the convention itself. "I think the answer here is very simple. There have been virtual roll calls in previous presidential elections," Fulks announced during a press conference in Milwaukee addressing the decision. The plan to nominate Biden ahead of the August 19 convention allegedly precedes his June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump. After the presidential debate, some legislators called on Biden to drop out of the race. (Related: Prominent Democratic strategist says it's too late to talk about replacing Biden as party goes into full panic mode over disastrous debate performance.) The exact date of the roll call has not been issued, but the DNC has suggested it will do so by late July. The plan to nominate Biden prior to the convention came from an Ohio law that requires all candidates to be legally certified by August 7 to qualify for ballot access. With the DNC convention not starting until Aug. 19, under the law, Biden would have been kept off the November ballot in the state. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called an unusual special session to handle the issue in late May. On May 31, Ohio's Legislature approved a measure to temporarily extend the certification deadline so that Biden would be eligible for the November ballot. In spite of the temporary fix allowing Biden ballot access in Ohio, the DNC said at that time it will still conduct the early virtual roll call. Fulks during the press conference blamed Ohio Republicans for allegedly playing political games regarding the rule change surrounding ballot access. "We have an obligation to make sure, as we have said, to stand by fair and free elections and make sure that the process runs as smoothly as possible. It is our obligation as a campaign to make sure that President Biden is on the ballot," Fulks said, who was later asked why the virtual roll call is still necessary after Ohio changed the rules. "It's the fact that they solved it with a legislative fix. We instituted this before they had a fix, and we're going to continue on that path, because we're not going to leave it up to them to change the rules," Fulks replied. The 2024 DNC will take place in Chicago from Aug. 19 to 22. This is not the first time Democrats have approved their nominee virtually as it also happened in 2020 during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. But that took place during the virtual convention, not before it.

Some Democrats accuse DNC of rushing to nominate Biden before opposition to his candidacy builds

Meanwhile, some Democrats in Congress have been distributing a letter requesting the DNC to delay the early nomination of Biden. In a draft letter, they call the virtual roll call process "a purely political maneuver" meant to head off any potential plots to remove Biden from the nomination and select a different candidate for November's election. "We write to share our serious concerns about the DNC's plan to hold a 'virtual roll call' to select our Democratic presidential nominee as early as July 21," the letter addressed to DNC members said. It is uncertain how many Democrats will sign the letter. As Biden drives ahead with a strong campaign schedule in the crucial battleground state of Nevada, determined to "finish this job" and win a second term at the White House, the anxiety over his candidacy remains after his awkward debate performance against Trump. Almost 20 congressional Democrats have already publicly called for Biden to exit the race, although calls for him to step aside have died down since the assassination attempt against Trump over the weekend. Behind closed doors, the internal party debate regarding Biden's future is far from over. Democrats are deeply shattered on Capitol Hill over Biden's ability to carry on his campaign and win reelection, and a voting public that should give a wave of support for the sitting president instead is worried they could lose not only the White House to Trump, but control of Congress to Republicans as well. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), who asked direct questions of Biden on a call with progressive legislators over the weekend, is among those raising concerns. Huffman had asked Biden during Saturday's private conference if he would consider meeting with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and congressional leaders Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to discuss the sustainability of his campaign. Biden "disagreed" that they were on a losing direction, Huffman said in a social media post later. And while Biden showed a "willingness to listen" to other voices, Huffman stated nothing would likely convince the president to step aside. Follow JoeBiden.news for more news about the president's ongoing reelection campaign. Watch the video below about President Joe Biden holding a rally amid calls for him to exit presidential race. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com.

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Some Democrats accuse DNC of rushing to nominate Biden before opposition to his candidacy builds

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