Democrats face uncertainty around when delegates will vote make Biden nomination official

Amid questions of whether President Joe Biden will remain the Democratic nominee, there is also uncertainty around when delegates will vote to make his nomination official.

The party announced May 28 it would hold a virtual roll call ahead of the convention to comply with Ohio law. That decision — made well before the June 27 debate — could now help tamp down on efforts to convince the president to step aside after a disappointing performance last month.

But it has also led to a flood of questions about when and how Biden will be nominated.

As of now, it’s not clear how long delegates – including the nearly 4,000 pledged to Biden — will have to vote for the nominee, or when the process will start or end.

According to convention nomination talking points circulated by the DNC last week, the electronic roll call vote will happen by August 7, but no decisions have been made on the format or timing of the vote. 

A DNC spokesperson told CNN that no date has been decided for the electronic roll call.

Earlier this year, the office of Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose informed Democrats that the Democratic National Convention, which will take place from August 19 to 22, would fall after the state’s deadline for submitting the party’s official nominee. LaRose said he would not accept a provisional certification and efforts to push back the deadline in the state’s Republican controlled legislature dragged. 

After weighing possible options, including litigation, the DNC opted to hold a virtual roll call vote. The committee stuck with the plan even after Ohio enacted a law on May 31 that would push back the deadline to after the convention.