The Democratic National Committee’s rules committee will vote on Tuesday to give the party’s convention committee the authority to limit the scope of the national convention if necessary due to the coronavirus outbreak.
If approved, as expected, by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and the full DNC membership, it could potentially change how the August convention is conducted and allow for virtual voting.
The Washington Post first reported the development.
Democrats originally planned to hold their Milwaukee convention in July, but pushed the date back to the week of August 17 because of the coronavirus. If the language of this resolution is accepted, DNC members will have to approve the change by a majority vote of its roughly 450 members, which will most likely be conducted by mail.
“During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact in August remain unknown, convention planners are exploring a range of contingency options to ensure all delegates will be able to cast ballots and accomplish their business, regardless of their ability to travel and participate in person,” a DNC official said in a summary of the changes.
“In the coming weeks, the Democratic Convention team will remain in constant communication with federal, state and local public health officials — and will follow their guidance to determine how many people can safely gather in Milwaukee this August,” the official said.
A draft of the resolution reads that the Rules and Bylaws Committee “further recommends certain changes to the Call so as to safeguard the ability of all validly-elected Convention delegates to participate in the Convention in person or by means that allow for appropriate social distancing.”
The CEO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention Committee, Joe Solmonese, told CNN in a statement, “This resolution provides our team with increased flexibility to adjust our plans, ensure that every delegate is able to accomplish their official business without putting their own health at risk, and enables us to chart the most appropriate course forward as we work to launch our nominee to victory in November.”
The resolution gives the convention team the authority to make changes to the format, size and date of the convention in order to conduct the event safely, according to a summary of the resolution. It also attempts to “streamline Convention proceedings and provide maximum flexibility in light of the pandemic” by making changes to the process of Rules and Credentials standing committees, according to the summary.
The committee will vote to issue waivers to five of the states that have moved their presidential primaries beyond the original June deadlines set last year before the virus spread in the US, including New York, which had canceled its primary until a judge last week reinstated the vote. Kentucky, New Jersey, Delaware and Louisiana also applied for the waivers that allow them to keep all their delegates to the convention.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee, has said the convention may have to be virtual. DNC Chair Tom Perez recently told ABC he expects to still hold an in-person convention. “We’re not going to put our public health head in the sand, but we’re optimistic we can do so because we put it off for five weeks,” Perez told ABC.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Republicans are moving “full steam ahead” in planning the 2020 convention in Charlotte from August 24-27, but will assess in late June or early July as to whether contingencies need to be made due to the coronavirus. The Republican committee recently hired a senior advisor for health and safety planning to help them prepare for the convention.
