The Democratic National Convention’s rules committee has agreed to select the party’s presidential nominee via virtual roll call vote. Initially, this plan was hatched to get Biden confirmed ahead of the August 19-22 convention. The party said it was to avoid a filing deadline, though critics said it was to thwart attempts to coerce Biden to withdraw. With the president formally out of the race, those original motives don’t much matter. Party leadership decided Wednesday, July 24, that the plan will move ahead, and delegates will still select a presidential nominee before the convention. That the candidate will almost certainly be Vice President Kamala Harris is being treated as a given. The candidates may have changed, but the plan clearly remains the same.

Virtual Roll Call – How It Works

Right now, the presumptive nominee is Vice President Kamala Harris. She has been endorsed by President Biden, former President Barack Obama, and much of the party, from leadership to the rank and file.

While the delegates once bound to Biden are now free from obligation to any candidate, a recent Associated Press survey shows that at least 3,180 of the nearly 4,000 delegates have endorsed Harris. That is, of course, far more than required to make it official. These delegates aren’t bound to her, though. And while there are currently no challengers, anyone willing to shoot their shot has until 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 30 to formally declare their candidacy and get signatures of support from at least 300 delegates.

Should Harris remain the only contender, virtual voting will begin August 1. If someone else throws their hat into the ring, that could be delayed a day or two to give the challenger time to campaign for delegates.

The Vice President’s Running Mate

Barring some last-minute surprise, Kamala Harris will almost certainly come out on the other end of this virtual roll call the official nominee. She could, of course, pick anyone as her running mate, but a handful of people are currently being vetted – and the delegates have some ideas of their own.

The Harris campaign has reportedly asked for vetting materials from nearly a dozen people. The top four names being discussed are Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Also on the list are Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The New York Times interviewed 251 delegates to see who they want Harris to pick as her running mate. That’s a small selection of the more than 3,000 delegates, to be sure – less than 10% – but the survey still showed a winner who appears on what seems to be the VP’s shortlist. Governor Shapiro took the lead with 40 delegates. Senator Kelly came in second with 28. Governor Beshear was third with 23, and Governors Whitmer and Cooper were tied in fourth place with 13.

State Filing Deadlines – Not the Hurdle They Seemed to Be?

Democrats cite Ohio’s filing deadline of August 7 as their reason for holding this virtual roll call. While the law was updated to account for the Democratic National Convention, legislative changes in the Buckeye State don’t take effect for 90 days, which puts the new law beyond both the old deadline and the DNC. Maybe that wouldn’t be a problem – but then again, perhaps it would. Republicans initially balked at changing the deadline after the left attempted to keep Donald Trump off the ballot in Colorado, and Democrats worry that, should they wait to confirm a nominee until the convention, the GOP would try to block ballot access.

Having an official nominee by August 7 avoids that risk, hence the early roll call. But what about the other filing deadlines? According to Georgia and North Carolina election laws, their filing deadlines are July 9 and August 2, respectively. But those deadlines, it turns out, aren’t as firm as one might think.

Ballots for the November 5 election must be ready by September 17 in the Peach State, and according to Georgia Secretary of State spokesman Mike Hassinger, as long as the nominees are reported by then, the ballots can be changed. He went on to explain that, even if the names aren’t submitted before then, voters are choosing the party’s presidential electors, not the candidate directly. While he didn’t explicitly say it, one could easily read between the lines and see his comment implied Democrats can apply their electors to whomever they nominate, regardless of what name appears on the ballot.

In North Carolina, ballots can be reprinted in case of a withdrawal, death, or disqualification, and if this occurs before the early voting period begins, they must be reprinted. If it happens after, there’s no requirement to reprint. However, Board of Elections lawyer Paul Cox told States Newsroom that, according to G.S. 163-114, “if the ballots are not reprinted, a vote cast for the candidate whose name is printed on the ballot shall be counted as a vote for the replacement nominee.”

Deadlines are a bit firmer in some states, but none of those will be an issue so long as the Democrats manage to nominate someone by August 7, as is expected with the virtual roll call. Now, whether Kamala Harris – or any other Democrat, for that matter – can overcome Trump’s lead in these three states is an entirely different story. Harris is polling slightly better than Biden, but Trump remains in the lead. A different nominee means a different race – but will it change the outcome?