Democrats will look to hold a virtual vote to make President Joe Biden their party’s nominee in the first week of August.
During a Democratic press conference in Milwaukee on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz was pressed on the party’s plans to nominate Joe Biden via a roll call vote in the coming days.
Walz, who co-chairs the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Rules Committee, confirmed that delegates would not begin voting before August 1, 202, and the Governor’s spokesperson confirmed that the process should wrap up by August 7, 2024.
He revealed that the rules committee will meet on Friday, July 19, 2024, to set out an agenda and he added that the meeting was never meant to kick off the virtual roll call vote.
Democrats have previously cited a ballot deadline of August 7, 2024, in Ohio as justification for the virtual roll call vote, but state legislators passed a bill to delay that deadline.
Still, Walz argued that Democrats needed to confirm their nominee quickly to avoid potential legal challenges, as a number of states have August deadlines.
“We need to get these things done. We need to get the roll call done but it won’t happen before the first of August,” Walz said.
In a letter obtained by a U.S news agency, the DNC rules committee chairs; Leah Daughtry and Tim Walz wrote, “We have confirmed with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Convention that no virtual voting will begin before August 1.”
“None of this will be rushed. Unlike our nation’s other major political party, our rules are set in public meetings, anchored in the Party’s charter and its traditions. That will continue in the 2024 cycle, as it must with so much at stake,” the letter read.
Daughtry and Walz added that they will propose a framework on Friday for “how best to proceed” and that they will follow up with a second meeting next week to “consider and adopt specific rules for that purpose.”
Doggett Doubles Down On Request For Biden To Step Down
However, Lloyd Doggett, the Texas congressman who became the first House Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to step aside, doubled down and urged the President to withdraw from the ticket in the face of “the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers.”
“My call for President Biden to step aside remains even more urgent,” Doggett said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our decision must consider the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers, not just more wishful thinking. The risk of Trump tyranny is so great that we must put forward our strongest nominee,” he added.
“Every day this decision is delayed, the focus is not on Trump’s lies, and a new Democratic nominee is offered less time to achieve victory. What we need is a fair, open democratic process to select a new nominee that can excite and engage more Americans.”
This comes as 19 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race following his disastrous debate performance last month.
According to a new poll, nearly two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate.
The poll was conducted two weeks after Biden’s debate flop and undercuts his claims since then that Democrats nationwide support his candidacy.
Also, the poll says that Democrats are relatively dour about their party’s prospects come November.
It added that only about a third of Democrats believe Biden is more capable of winning than Trump is come November and about 3 in 10 Democrats think the two are equally capable of winning and 16% say victory is more likely to go to Trump.
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