US Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough Democratic delegate votes to become the party’s nominee for president, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said on Friday.
Virtual voting will end on Monday, but the campaign saw Harris cross the majority threshold for delegates.
Harris would be the first Black woman to hold the top spot on a major party’s ticket.
Harris, who was at the livestream event where the announcement was made, said she would officially accept the nomination next week after the virtual voting period ends.
“But I’m thrilled to know we have enough delegates to secure the nomination,” Harris said after the announcement.
“And later this month, we will gather together as one party in Chicago, where we will have the opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together.”
His campaign said Kamala Harris needed to cross the 2,350-vote threshold from delegates to formally secure the nomination.
Meanwhile, Jaime Harrison said “we will work closely with Vice President Kamala Harris and demonstrate the strength of our party” during the convention in Chicago later this month.
Democrats have begun virtual voting to nominate Harris, nearing the conclusion of a process that was disrupted by President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race.
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began voting via secure email on Thursday and the polls will remain open until Monday evening. Harris has not yet selected her running mate and is expected to interview candidates over the weekend.
Formal nominations are expected to be completed by Aug. 7, though that is more than two weeks away before the party’s convention begins in Chicago.
Democratic officials have said the quick deadline was necessary because they needed to ensure candidates could appear on the Ohio ballot by Aug. 7.
Harris was endorsed by Biden shortly after she dropped out of the race, putting her at the forefront of the campaign to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump.
No other major candidate challenged Harris for the nomination, and she was the only choice for delegates under party rules, which required a pledge of support from at least 300 delegates, and no more than 50 signatures from any one delegation.
Any delegate who chooses to vote for someone other than Harris will be counted as “present.”
Democrats are still planning a state-by-state roll call during the convention, which is the traditional way a nominee is chosen. However, it will be entirely ceremonial because of online voting.
The party is insisting it must name its nominee before its convention in Chicago on Aug. 19 to ensure it can meet the deadline to get on the ballot in Ohio — an argument that state Republicans disagree with.
Ohio state lawmakers have changed the deadline, but the amendment would not take effect until Sept. 1. Democratic lawyers have warned that waiting until after the initial deadline to determine a presidential nominee could lead to a legal challenge.
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