WASHINGTON, August 2. /TASS/. US Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough votes of the Democratic delegates, who have been voting virtually, to be formally nominated for president, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said.
"I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday [August 5]," he said in a statement.
Harrison did not specify how many votes the politician has secured so far. She needs 1,976 delegate votes to win.
Harris, who was the only qualified candidate during the virtual voting, wrote on the X social network that she would be formally nominated for president next week.
"I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States," she wrote. "I will officially accept your nomination next week."
Since Thursday, delegates of the Democratic National Convention have been virtually voting by email or phone to formally designate Harris the party’s official presidential nominee. The vote closes on Monday.
More than 4,000 delegates, who were selected during the Democratic primaries, cast their ballots over the phone or using an online form. Most of them had supported US President Joe Biden before he withdrew his re-election bid. Their votes did not automatically go to Harris, although 99% of them (3,923) said they would support her.
The US presidential election will take place on November 5. Biden was supposed to remain at the top of the Democratic ticket, however, after his poor performance at the televised debate against Republican Donald Trump on June 27, calls intensified, particularly among Democrats, for the incumbent president to drop out of the race. On July 21, Biden decided to quit his reelection campaign and supported the nomination of Harris as the party’s candidate.