US elections: Kamala Harris officially secures Democratic nomination for president

US elections: Kamala Harris officially secures Democratic nomination for president

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US Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday won the 2024 Democratic National Convention by securing a majority vote of delegates, the Washington Post reports.

Democratic Party officials officially made the announcement, making him/her the party’s presidential nominee, capping an unprecedented process that began less than two weeks ago after the former Democratic flagbearer withdrew from the race.

Following this, Kamala Harris shared a post on X and said, “I am honored to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.”

“I will officially accept the nomination next week. This campaign is about people coming together, motivated by love for country, and fighting for the best,” she said.

Following the announcement, US President Joe Biden also shared a post on Instagram and said that he/she has made the best decision in choosing Kamala Harris as president and said that he/she couldn’t be more proud.

“One of the best decisions I ever made was choosing @KamalaHarris to be my Vice President. Now that she will be our party’s nominee, I couldn’t be more proud,” Joe Biden said on X.

More than 4,000 convention delegates had until Monday to submit their ballots, but no other candidate qualified to challenge Harris, making her selection virtually certain. Still, according to the Washington Post, the formal nomination of the first Black woman to run for president is a milestone for a country that has long grappled with racial and gender issues.

“I am so proud to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States,” Harris told supporters. “And I will tell you that the tireless work of our delegates, our state leaders and staff has been instrumental in making this moment possible.”

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison made the announcement shortly before the vote, saying Harris had crossed the threshold a day after online voting began on Monday.

“The fact that we can say today — just one day after voting began — that the vice president has passed the majority threshold and will officially be our nominee next week is truly extraordinary, friends,” Harrison said.

On July 27, Harris signed the form officially declaring her candidacy for the US presidential election, assuring that her people-powered campaign would win in November.

Harris emphasized on social media that her people-powered campaign would win in November.

She further reiterated that she will work hard to win every vote. Kamala Harris said in her post, “Today, I have officially signed the form declaring my candidacy for President of the United States. I will work hard to win every vote. And in November, our people-powered campaign will win.”

After President Biden abruptly dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Harris, Democratic leaders struggled to create a nomination process that did not rely on state primary contests, all of which Biden had already won.

The new nomination contest allowed any individual to contest the election provided he/she or she obtained the signatures of 300 delegates in support of his/her or her claim, with a maximum of 50 signatures from any one delegation, and met other basic qualifications.

Amid efforts by top party officials to unify the party to oppose Donald Trump’s candidacy, no elected Democratic politician other than Harris announced their intention to obtain those signatures. Candidates who indicated their intention to seek the nomination failed to obtain the required signatures.

On July 30, the Democratic National Committee said that 3,923 delegates had filed petitions to include Harris on the ballot for the nomination, a large majority of the total delegate pool.

Party leaders decided months ago that, when Biden was still certain to be the nominee, a virtual vote would be used to finalize the nomination rather than wait until the party convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. They said the early nomination was needed because legal ambiguities in Ohio’s early deadlines meant Biden could be kept off the ballot in that state.

Ohio eventually amended its deadline for ballot qualification, but Democrats stuck to their plan for a virtual nomination. According to party rules, delegates are not required to vote on Harris’ vice-presidential selection.

Democratic convention organizers are preparing a symbolic roll call for prime time television coverage in Chicago, in which each state’s delegates will offer their votes for Harris in a customized manner.

Harris has become the second black person to become a candidate for a major presidential post in the nearly 250-year history of the US. Before her, Barack Obama became a candidate for the presidency in 2008. Harris is black and Indian American and Trump has recently attacked her identity and said that she had previously underestimated her black heritage, although there is no evidence of this.

Harris would be the second female major party nominee after Hillary Clinton in 2016, when she lost to Trump in a contest that stunned Democrats and upended the political landscape.



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