Kamala Harris will be officially confirmed as the Democratic nominee for President through an electronic vote starting Thursday, replacing the usual in-person balloting at the national convention.
Two weeks after Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Harris, 52, has taken full control of the party.
She is now the only Democrat set to challenge Republican Donald Trump in November.
Nearly 4,000 delegates, who are grassroots activists and politicians chosen during the primary process, have submitted signatures backing Harris for the five-day electronic vote.
No other Democrat has stepped up to challenge her, making her the first Black and South Asian woman to secure a major party’s nomination.
She received support from 99 percent of the delegates who signed petitions, according to the Democratic National Committee (DNC). No one else met the requirement of 300 signatures.
“Our delegates have an important responsibility to cast their history-making ballots for Vice President Harris, ensuring she will be on the ballot in every state this November,” said DNC chair Jaime Harrison.
Around 700 “superdelegates,” who hold elected office or are party officials, also get to vote.
Voting starts at 9:00 am Thursday and ends at 6:00 pm Monday, with votes submitted via an online platform.
The announcement might come late Monday as Harris prepares for a campaign tour across seven key battleground states with her running mate, who has not yet been announced.
Reports suggest she will start in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
The 2024 nominating process is similar to 2020, with a virtual approach due to Ohio’s deadline for major parties to submit candidate names by Wednesday next week.
The DNC has not clarified if the vote will be livestreamed or if results will be available publicly before the end of the voting period.
The virtual roll-call marks the start of the 2024 convention, with official festivities beginning when thousands of party activists gather in Chicago on August 19.
There will be ceremonial votes for Harris and her running mate, celebrating her journey from state politics to the top of the ticket.
“Think about this: her dad is of Jamaican descent, her mother is of South Asian descent, and then she went to the great Howard University, worked in California, and served in the United States Senate,” said Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock to a crowd of 10,000 at Harris’s rally in Atlanta.
“That is the American story. She brings all of those strands together. She sees us because, in a real sense, she is all of us.”
