Harris wins Democratic presidential nomination in virtual roll call. Here’s how the process worked. - The Boston Globe (2024)

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began casting votes on Thursday to select their nominee for president, but unlike in past years, they did so not in the raucous party atmosphere of the convention floor or even during the convention itself. Instead, they participated in what the party called a “virtual roll call,” filling out electronic ballots from their homes, offices or vacation spots more than two weeks before the first delegate steps foot inside Chicago’s United Center.

Harris was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by a Tuesday night deadline.

How does the virtual process work?

Delegates used an electronic voting method the party says is similar to one used to tally virtual roll call votes in the 2020 convention, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the party to conduct much of its official business remotely.

Under new procedures adopted by the convention’s rules committee in late July, candidates had until Tuesday to declare their intent to seek the nomination and until that night to electronically submit the 300 delegate signatures required to qualify for the roll call vote. According to a DNC statement, Harris submitted signatures from 3,923 delegates, about 84% of the full delegation and 99% of delegates who signed a petition.

Under party rules, where only officially nominated candidates were eligible to receive votes, votes cast for someone other than Harris in the roll call were counted as “present.”

Who gets to vote?

Among those eligible to vote were close to 4,000 pledged delegates selected through state primary and caucus processes as well as more than 700 others who have automatic delegate slots by virtue of the elected office or party positions they hold. These include Democratic governors, U.S. senators and representatives, former presidents and DNC members.

These automatic delegates, known informally as superdelegates, were the subject of much debate within the party for years because of their potential to influence the outcome of a close nomination fight despite not having been selected for their posts through a public process. Historically, however, superdelegates have never backed a candidate for the nomination other than the one who also earned the majority of pledged delegates.

After the 2016 election, the party passed changes that allowed superdelegates to vote only on the second and subsequent ballots. Party rules do allow superdelegates to vote on the first ballot if a candidate has either won a majority of pledged delegates through the primary and caucus process, like President Joe Biden did, or submitted the signatures of a majority of total delegates, as Harris did.

What about the nominee for vice president?

Now that Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, the new convention rules allow her to place the name of her pick for vice president into nomination, at which point the convention chair can declare that candidate as the vice presidential nominee.

Harris is closing in on selecting a running mate and spent the weekend interviewing possible candidates. She and whomever she selects will head out on a seven-state swing of key battlegrounds, including Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina, this week.

Why did this happen before the convention?

DNC officials first indicated in May that they would conduct a virtual roll call to clear a potential hurdle in getting the Democratic nominee on the ballot in Ohio. Ohio’s deadline to file for the general election ballot is Wednesday, two weeks before Democratic delegates would have crowned the nominee at the convention.

Although the deadline had been modified in previous presidential election years to accommodate late-summer conventions of both parties, this year state Republicans initially planned to enforce the existing deadline, with one GOP lawmaker calling the scheduling bind " a Democratic problem.”

The Republican-controlled Legislature did eventually make the change at the behest of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, but the law does not go into effect until Aug. 31. Citing concerns that Ohio Republicans could still try to block their candidate from getting on the ballot despite the legislative fix, DNC officials moved forward with their virtual roll call as originally planned.

So what happens at the convention?

The main order of business at any national party convention is officially selecting nominees for president and vice president and for the nominees to deliver speeches accepting their nominations.

Typically, the process of voting for the nominee is done publicly, with a live roll call vote in which state delegations cast their votes from the convention floor with much fanfare. This year's pre-convention vote for the Democratic nominee was conducted behind closed doors, with results released only at the conclusion of the vote, instead of the real-time vote updates that have been a fixture of past convention roll call votes.

Still, in this year’s virtual roll call, as with in-person roll calls going back decades, the outcome of the vote was essentially known long before the first vote was cast. Despite the period of uncertainty immediately following Biden’s withdrawal from the race, an AP survey indicated that delegates overwhelmingly coalesced behind Harris to replace Biden on the ticket, leaving little suspense heading into the online vote.

The DNC says the convention will feature a ceremonial roll call vote, mimicking the look of a traditional convention roll call. Harris will still deliver an acceptance speech on the last day of the convention.

In addition to selecting presidential and vice presidential nominees, convention delegates participate in a variety of other business, including adopting the party’s platform.