Dems work on virtual convention experience
Democrats are making new moves toward a virtual presidential nominating convention in August, with party officials preparing to grant convention organizers in Milwaukee the authority to design an event that won’t require delegates to attend in person amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A top party official discussed the plans ahead of Tuesday’s virtual meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss moves that still require approval by the committee and the DNC’s 447 members.
The influential panel will start the process with a resolution that grants “maximum flexibility” to the convention organizing committee to set up a gathering that “guarantees every delegate can accomplish their official business without putting their own health at risk.” That will include finalizing convention dates — which now are set only as “the week of Aug. 17” — and determining “format, voting mechanisms, structure and other logistical aspects of the convention.”
The expected action underscores how deeply COVID-19 has upended the 2020 presidential election, potentially forcing one or both major parties to dramatically alter their conventions in ways that not even the Civil War required. And it raises the possibility further that Joe Biden will be nominated without the traditional roll call vote from thousands of delegates across 57 states and territories.
The resolution also would allow two of the most high-profile convention committees — the Rules Committee and the Credentials Committee — to conduct business without having to have their final reports approved by the full convention, a maneuver that could minimize some floor fight.