Kamala Harris’s Democratic candidature confirmed, to accept nomination next week

US Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough Democratic delegate votes to become the party’s nominee for president, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said on Friday.

The virtual voting will conclude on Monday, but the campaign witnessed that Harris crossed the threshold to have the majority of delegates’ votes.

Harris is set to be the first woman of colour at the top of a major party’s ticket.

Harris, who attended the livestream event where the announcement was made, said she would officially accept the nomination next week after the virtual voting period had closed.

“But already I’m happy to know that we have enough delegates to secure the nomination”, said Harris after the announcement.

“And later this month, we will gather in Chicago united as one party where we’re going to have an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together.”

Kamala Harris needed to cross a 2,350-vote threshold from delegates to formally secure the nomination, her campaign said.

Meanwhile, Jaime Harrison said “we will rally around Vice President Kamala Harris and demonstrate the strength of our party” during its convention in Chicago later this month.

Democrats have took up a virtual vote to nominate Harris, nearing the culmination of a process that was upended by President Joe Biden’s decision to walk out of the presidential race.

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began voting via secure email on Thursday, and the voting will remain open until Monday evening. Harris has not yet chosen her running mate, and she’s expected to interview candidates over the weekend.

The formal nomination is expected to be finalised by August 7 even though the party’s convention in Chicago isn’t scheduled to begin for more than two more weeks.

Democratic officials have said the accelerated timeline was necessary because of an August 7 deadline to ensure candidates appear on the Ohio ballot.

Harris was endorsed by Biden shortly after he dropped out of the race, catapulting her to the forefront of the campaign to beat Republican nominee Donald Trump.

No other major candidate challenged Harris for the nomination, and she was the only choice for delegates under party rules that required pledges of support from at least 300 delegates, with no more than 50 signatures from any one delegation.

Any delegate who wants to vote for someone other than Harris will be tallied as “present”.

Democrats still plan a state-by-state roll call during the convention, the traditional way that a nominee is chosen. However, that will be purely ceremonial because of the online voting.

The party insists it has to have its nominee in place before its convention opens in Chicago on August 19 to make sure it meets ballot access deadlines in Ohio — an argument that the state’s Republicans dispute.

Ohio state lawmakers have since changed the deadline, but the modification doesn’t take effect until September 1. Democratic attorneys warn that waiting until after the initial deadline to determine a presidential nominee could prompt a legal challenge.

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