By Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) – A Democratic Party committee will meet on Friday to discuss a virtual voting process to nominate incumbent President Joe Biden as the party’s candidate in this year’s election, even as Biden was “soul searching” on whether to quit the race.
The virtual vote would take place ahead of the Democratic National Committee’s in-person convention – starting Aug. 19 in Chicago – when historically the party has nominated its candidate. It is unclear how the nominating process would unfold if Biden were to leave the race.
For a party already divided over whether Biden should stay in the race against Republican rival Donald Trump, the virtual vote is another point of controversy.
Critics argue it is a means of pushing Biden through early as the party’s official nominee. Others, including DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, say it is necessary to deal with 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.
However, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed a bill extending the deadline to Aug. 31, meaning official nomination at the Democratic convention would still comply with Ohio law.
The meeting on Friday is expected to show what the party’s plans are for a virtual vote and its timing, which would reveal how much time remains before Biden officially becomes the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 5 election. An online or virtual vote also means no chance of a live convention floor battle among delegates in Chicago that could embarrass Biden.
“On Friday, we will propose a framework for how best to proceed,” said a DNC letter to its committee on the meeting, obtained by Reuters. “Next week, we will follow up with a second meeting to consider and adopt specific rules for that purpose. No matter what may be reported, our goal is not to fast-track.”
No virtual voting will begin before Aug. 1, the letter said.
Biden was “soul searching” about dropping his Democratic reelection campaign, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source. The 81-year-old has faced increasing pressure from heavyweights in his party to cede his position at the top of the Democratic ticket after a shaky June 27 debate performance against Trump.
After weeks insisting that he will remain in the race, Biden is now taking calls to step aside seriously and multiple Democratic officials think an exit is a matter of time, according to sources familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw, editing by Deepa Babington)
