Democratic Party group meets to discuss virtual voting process to nominate Biden

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 nominee in this year’s election, even as Biden weighs whether to drop out of the race.

The virtual vote would take place before the Democratic National Committee’s in-person convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago, where the party traditionally nominates its candidate. It’s not yet clear how the nomination process would play out if Biden were to drop out of the race.

For a party already divided over whether Biden should stay in the race against Republican rival Donald Trump, virtual voting is another point of contention.

Critics say it’s a way to push Biden to the top of the party’s official candidates. Others, including DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, say it’s necessary to address an Ohio law that could have prevented Biden’s name from appearing on the state’s ballot if he hadn’t been nominated by Aug. 7, before the Chicago convention.

However, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill extending the deadline to August 31, meaning the official nomination at the Democratic convention would still be in accordance with Ohio law.

Friday’s meeting is expected to reveal the party’s plans for a virtual vote and its timeline, 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 there’s no chance that a live battle among convention delegates in Chicago could embarrass Biden.

“On Friday, we will propose a framework for how best to proceed,” reads a letter from the DNC to its committee on the meeting, obtained by Reuters. “Next week, we will hold a second meeting to consider and adopt specific rules for this purpose. Regardless of what is reported, our goal is not to rush this.”

No virtual voting will begin before August 1, the letter states.

Joe Biden has done some “soul searching” about abandoning his re-election campaign for the Democratic Party, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source. The 81-year-old faces growing pressure from party heavyweights to cede his position at the top of the Democratic ticket after a shaky performance in the June 27 debate against Trump.

After insisting for weeks that he would stay in the race, Biden is now taking calls to withdraw seriously, and several Democratic officials believe a departure is only a matter of time, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Deepa Babington)