The Democratic Party is hoping to head into its convention with a new nominee at the top of the ticket, but it will have to go through an unconventional process.
On Thursday, the party kicked off a virtual roll call for delegates to cast their votes. They have until Monday to file their ballots.
The vote is largely ceremonial, as candidates seeking the nomination had to obtain signatures from 300 delegates by Tuesday. Vice President Kamala Harris was the only candidate that qualified, earning 3,923 signatures.
The presumed nominee was formerly President Biden, but, after he dropped out the race, he quickly endorsed Ms. Harris. On July 22, the Ohio delegation met virtually and pledged its votes to Ms. Harris. Now the delegation plans to make it official.
“It’s incredibly new and exciting,” said Carrie Hartman, president of Toledo’s City Council and a delegate for Ohio’s 9th District. “I was kind of sad that I would not be nominating Joe Biden because I think he’s been a good president, but since he’s stepped down, Kamala seems ready to go.”
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, who is also a delegate for the 9th District, said he was not confident in Mr. Biden as the nominee and is excited to have a new candidate.
“I respect President Biden, his career and his service. History will remember him fondly,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. “I did worry that he was not the best candidate going forward for all of the reasons we witnessed. His stepping aside was the greatest thing he could have done.”
It’s Ms. Hartman’s first convention, and while normally the roll call vote would take place in person, this is the second presidential election in which the Democratic Party is holding it virtually. The first was in 2020 during the pandemic. The personalized ballots were emailed to each of the delegates on Thursday, who submit the completed ones through an online platform. The DNC will tally the votes and announce the results after the deadline.
Ohio has been center stage during the nomination process because of its ballot deadlines. Ohio law requires ballots to be finalized 90 days before the election, which would have fallen on Wednesday. However, the candidate wouldn’t have been formally nominated until Aug. 19 at the Democratic National Convention.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill that would temporarily extend the deadline to Sept. 1 to ensure the then-presumed candidate, Mr. Biden, would be on the November ballot. Before the governor could sign the bill, the DNC announced it would hold a virtual roll call to meet the original Aug. 7 deadline.
“The reason we’re doing this is because of Ohio, and we have to do it this way because we don’t know what kind of stunts Ohio Republicans will pull,” Ms. Hartman said. “I think the Ohio delegation has even more pressure on it because of Ohio’s rules.”
Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose has pushed back against allegations that Ohio is the reason for the virtual roll call and sent a letter to DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison calling it a “scheme.”
“As the state’s chief elections officer, I’ve confirmed with our state’s attorney general that Ohio law does not require the DNC to conduct a ‘virtual roll call’ prior to your scheduled August convention dates,” Mr. LaRose wrote in the letter. “I’m confident that your attorneys are well-aware of this fact, and I suspect your current rhetorical posturing is part of a plan to replace the incumbent president without a contested convention or any kind of democratic process. It’s clever, if not completely antithetical to your party’s relentless finger wagging about threats to democracy, but I ask that you stop using Ohio to justify your course of action.”
This will be the eighth convention for state Sen. Bill DeMora (D., Columbus), and he said the virtual roll call has its perks.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve been to seven conventions before, but I don’t want to spend three hours listening to delegates from all the states and territories casting their vote,” Mr. DeMora said. “It saves me time in my life.”
“I think doing it this way will lead to a better and more fun convention,” he added.
Mr. DeMora is in charge of tracking the state delegation’s votes. Ohio has 144 delegates, and during the pledging vote, Mr. DeMora couldn’t see which delegates had submitted their card. This time, he will be able to track the ballots.
“I’m confident we’ll get almost all of them in today, and the ones we don’t get in will be submitted by tomorrow,” Mr. DeMora said.
Because the process has been online, Mr. DeMora said it comes with road bumps. He said some of the delegates didn’t submit their pledging card because it went to a spam folder, and others were out of town and didn’t have access to a computer. He said about 80 percent of the delegation is first-time convention attendees.
Tony Totty, president of the United Auto Workers Local 14, is one of those first-timers. He said beyond the numerous emails flooding his inbox, the communication has been easy to follow.
“I think the communication that has been coming out is understandable, and we’re under good leadership,” he said. “I’m pleased with how Bill DeMora has led us.”
Mr. Totty pledged his vote to Ms. Harris and got his formal nomination ballot around noon on Thursday. He was looking forward to casting it again for the vice president.
This is not Mr. Kapszukiewicz’s first convention, but he said adapting to online wasn’t difficult. He also voted for Ms. Harris.
“As Americans we have gotten used to doing things online and in Zoom meetings,” he said. “We still gather in Chicago in two weeks.”
Lisa Sobecki, a Lucas County commissioner, is also a first-time delegate who pledged her vote to Ms. Harris.
“I’m excited to vote for her again to be the nominee, and I will vote for her again in November.”
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