The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Wednesday told people hoping to challenge Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination for president to announce their intent to run by Saturday evening.
Harris became the party's presumptive nominee on Monday, after President Joe Biden dropped his bid for reelection and endorsed her. No major Democrat has hinted at trying to replace her on the ticket since.
The DNC's Rules committee, which finalized its rules for the upcoming convention on Wednesday, said that any candidate who does emerge by the Saturday deadline will need to be supported by 300 delegates by the following Tuesday, The Hill reported. No more than 50 of those delegates can come from any one state.
Candidates will have to announce their intent to run between Thursday and Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
If Harris is the only candidate for the nomination, the committee said delegates will start voting in a virtual roll call on Aug. 1, and Harris will be expected to name her vice presidential pick by Aug. 7. If more than one candidate emerges and meets the requirements, then the virtual roll call will take place around Aug. 3.
“Failure to certify both nominees in advance of each state’s ballot deadlines opens us to very real potential litigation,” Pat Moore, a lawyer for the Democratic Party, said during Wednesday's meeting, per NBC News. “Republicans will use this moment to do what they do, to sue, to try to bar us from the ballot or try to disqualify our voters.”
Harris has already secured the support of more than two-thirds of all Democratic delegates. But those delegates are not committed to the vice president if other candidates join the race.
The Democratic convention will take place in Chicago on Aug. 19. Former President Donald Trump was confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee at the GOP convention in Milwaukee last week.
