US President Joe Biden will receive the official nomination from his fellow Democrats for a second term in a virtual ballot as planned in late July, before the party's national convention, Reuters reported, citing four people involved in the process.
Democrats and Republicans typically use their national conventions to formally nominate their candidates, but Biden will be nominated weeks before his party gathers for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19 - a plan that was announced long before Biden's ill-fated debate on June 27.
It is unclear, however, exactly how the early nomination process, state and national Democrats interviewed for this story said.
"Reuters" interviewed more than 20 of the 4,500 delegates who will participate in the nomination. Eight told "Reuters" that they had either not heard about what senior Democrats described as a "virtual conference" or had not heard any details about it recently. One said the only recent announcement they had received was about the in-person convention.
The 81-year-old Biden has been under constant pressure and scrutiny from some lawmakers, donors and activists to drop his reelection campaign after his disastrous performance in the presidential debate, which renewed questions about his mental fitness.
But Biden campaign officials said they expect Saturday's assassination attempt on Republican rival Donald Trump to ease pressure on Biden to withdraw.
Biden insists he is not going anywhere and says he is the best-prepared politician to defeat Trump.
A virtual nomination could speed up Biden's official nomination and fend off potential rivals to his candidacy. But the confusion surrounding the virtual nomination process reflects the chaos in the party as top leaders focus on saving Biden's candidacy, sources said.
The early nomination was necessary to address an Ohio law that could keep Biden's name off the state's ballot if he is not nominated by Aug. 7, before the Chicago convention.
Democrats are moving forward with the plan, even though Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill in late May to secure Biden's spot on the state's ballot after it passed the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Online or virtual voting means no chance for a live debate among Democrats at the Chicago convention, which could embarrass Biden and throw the campaign into chaos.
Many of the details will be finalized on the 19th and 21st July, when the party's rules and credentials committee meet, respectively.
In 2024, there will be approximately 4,532 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, including 3,788 pledged delegates and 744 "automatic" delegates - better known as superdelegates.
To win the Democratic nomination, a presidential candidate must receive the support of a majority - or approximately 1,895 - of pledged delegates on the first roll call. If not, superdelegates - who are free to vote for anyone they want - will join in and help decide the second roll call.
In the party's primary, where Biden faced no serious opposition, he secured the support of about 3,900 delegates, well above the number needed.
Pledged delegates are expected to support Biden, but there is disagreement about whether they are obligated to support him.
Democratic National Committee officials have been calling delegates to check their sentiments in recent days to identify potential problems, officials told Reuters.
Delegates are expected to be given three options: support Biden, no one or leave a blank ballot, according to party officials.
On Thursday Biden was asked about concerns that delegates would defect from him.
"Obviously they are free to do whatever they want, but I have tremendous support," Biden said. "It's not going to happen."
If Biden withdraws after the official nomination, the 435 members of the Democratic National Committee will select a new nominee in a special session.
Members are split roughly evenly between men and women, as well as diverse constituencies, including labor leaders, LGBTQ representatives, and racial minorities.