Democrats on Wednesday adopted the rules the party will use to choose their presidential nominee, with voting to officially nominate Kamala Harris likely to begin August 1.
Under the rules approved by the Democratic National Convention’s rules panel Wednesday, presidential hopefuls have until Saturday evening to formally declare their candidacies and until Tuesday, July 30, to submit signatures from at least 300 delegates, with not more than 50 from a single state counting toward the threshold.
Voting will be conducted by electronic ballots sent to convention delegates. If only one candidate meets the petition requirements, which is likely considering how quickly the party has coalesced around Harris, voting is expected to begin on August 1, although it will be up to party leaders to set the times for voting to begin and end. If more than one candidate were to meet the requirements, party leaders can set a period of no more than five days for candidates to make their case to delegates. Delegates will have 36 hours’ notice before voting begins.
Essentially, they’re setting it up to make it fairly hard for anyone to challenge Harris unless they have widespread support, and get it over quick.
Nothing at all. They’re making the process hard enough that it will ensure a quick and easy nomination that isn’t dragged out for weeks, but they’re also making it democratic so it’s not just a coronation.