Gadarian Discusses the Role of Delegates in Nominating a Presidential Candidate in UPI Article

July 31, 2024

UPI

Shana Kushner Gadarian

Political Science Department

Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

Federal

U.S. Elections

United States

UPI

Shana Kushner Gadarian

The Democratic Party has passed the rules for nominating its new presidential candidate after President Biden's announcement that he will not seek re-election.

The Democratic National Convention rules committee passed the rules by a 157-3 vote, preparing for a virtual roll call vote.

According to the Democratic National Committee bylaws, to earn that nomination, Harris or any other presidential hopeful must receive signatures from at least 300 delegates but not more than 600. No more than 50 delegate signatures can come from a single state.

Shana Gadarian, professor of political science, says that delegate votes will be directed by their respective state parties.

“They themselves are part of the party apparatus,” she says. “As with everything in politics in the United States, everything comes from the states. Occasionally you see a delegate make an individual decision and decide to vote for somebody else but that's pretty rare.”

Read more in the United Press International (UPI) article, “Democrats set rules for virtual roll call as path to nominating presidential candidate emerges.”