The Democratic National Committee is quietly steaming ahead to officially nominate Biden as the party’s presidential nominee weeks before the formal convention next month, despite the party’s growing division and calls to hold voting in person, Axios reported.
While Democratic Party leaders requested to wait on voting until the convention so they could discuss Biden's floundering reelection campaign in person, the DNC announced that Democratic delegates are expected to cast their vote in a virtual format from July 29 to Aug. 5, two weeks before the official Democratic National Convention in Chicago, people familiar with the matter told Axios. With the early voting in place, Biden would only have to resist calls to step aside for less than two more weeks. Once Biden receives votes from the majority of delegates, removing him from the presidential ticket will become incredibly complicated.
More party leaders are urging the octogenarian to exit the race, the New York Times reported, and Democrats have expressed concern that the DNC is trying to rush the vote by moving up the deadline.
"Put simply, they are trying to shut down the process earlier. We can't allow it," Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, a Biden delegate from Maryland, wrote, according to an email obtained by Axios. "I am asking you to ask the DNC to stop pushing for an early vote."
Rep. Jared Huffman (D., Calif.) began "circulating a letter among House Democrats calling on the party to delay nominating Mr. Biden until the delegates gathered in person at the convention," according to the Times.
Although calls for Biden to exit the race came in response to Biden’s dismal June debate performance, the DNC announced plans in May to hold a virtual roll call before the party's convention due to an Ohio law that could have kept Biden's name off ballots in the state if he wasn't nominated by Aug. 7, prior to the convention in Chicago.
The Ohio statute, however, no longer interferes with the Aug. 19 convention. The Buckeye State’s deadline for ballot access, previously Aug. 7, has been moved to Sept. 1.
The Democratic National Committee did not respond to a request for comment.
Public sentiments calling for the president to suspend his reelection bids have quieted since the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump, and Biden has continued to reiterate that he does not intend to withdraw from the race.
"Look, 14 million people voted for me to be the nominee in the Democratic Party, OK?" he said in a Monday night interview with NBC. "I listen to them."
The DNC, however, appears to be committed to its virtual voting plan.
"We look forward to nominating Joe Biden through a virtual roll call and celebrating with fanfare together in Chicago in August alongside the 99 percent of delegates who are supporting the Biden-Harris ticket," Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the DNC, told Axios in a statement.