DNC could nominate Biden virtually this month — as critics try to slam brakes
MILWAUKEE — President Biden could secure the Democratic nomination for a potential second term as early as this month thanks to electronic voting by delegates, The Post has learned — a move seen by critics as trying to shove him through the process.
Electronic delegate voting had been discussed before the embattled 81-year-old president‘s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump on June 27.
But details about the timeline are only taking shape now, and the perception among some party stalwarts is that his camp wants to hurry things along — while critics try to slam the brakes on the process to allow more time to persuade him to step aside.
A formal start to online voting has not yet been scheduled, two Democratic National Committee sources told The Post — but one said that the timing of a vote has been discussed internally as possibly beginning within days, sometime in “mid-July.”
A group of House Democrats who want Biden to end his bid for a second term are now circulating a letter requesting that the vote be held later.
They say they have heard chatter that the voting could begin as early as July 21, earlier than the July 29-Aug. 5 range reported by Axios, which published an unsigned copy of the draft letter.
“There is no legal justification for this extraordinary and unprecedented action which would effectively accelerate the nomination process by nearly a month,” says the draft letter, which emerged one day after former President Trump formally secured his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The electronic voting plan was originally devised so that the Democratic ticket would be formalized in time for the Aug. 7 deadline in Ohio for its November ballot.
But Biden critics argue that the move prevents fuller deliberation over the president’s mental and physical health ahead of the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Still, The Post’s sources scoffed at the pushback over the electronic voting timeframe, arguing that even if Biden is nominated electronically this month, he could still be replaced ahead of the Nov. 5 election if he decides to step aside.
“All you do is change the rules on the floor of the convention and allow for additional ballots,” said one DNC source.
“What they’re trying to do is stir up a certain level of panic” to push Biden out, the party source said of detractors.
The source said DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison should make clear what exactly the online voting plan is to avoid further tension among Democrats.
A third source familiar with the DNC considerations told The Post that the hoopla is “all so stupid.”
Biden’s opponents “are forgetting Joe Biden has to step aside” for any replacement to take place. He swept this year’s primary elections and caucuses with only token opposition, so he theoretically has all of the delegates he needs, and more, locked up.
“They can’t force him,” the third source said of the president potentially throwing in the re-election towel. “It doesn’t matter when the nomination is, especially since this was pre-planned. It’s just creating more chaos and not focusing the energy on the election and issues.”
So far, 20 House Democrats and one Democratic senator have called on Biden to hand off the nomination to Vice President Kamala Harris or someone else to avoid a potential landslide defeat to Trump.
Three congressional Democratic sources told The Post on Tuesday that they expect momentum to continue to build again against Biden — who briefly scored a reprieve from the news cycle after the Saturday assassination attempt against Trump, 78.
Even if Biden were to drop out of the race after he is nominated, his replacement almost certainly would appear on general-election ballots, the first source noted — pointing out that Democratic vice presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton, who dropped out more than two weeks after the 1972 DNC, was replaced by Sargent Shriver on the ticket.
The Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
