- [Narrator] With President Joe Biden dropping his reelection bid, the nearly 4,000 delegates who are pledged to him are now free to pick another candidate to run in November, and that candidate seems very likely to be Vice President Kamala Harris, but technically, other Democrats still have time to challenge her and try to win delegates. Delegates can do, and I'll quote President Biden here, whatever the hell they wanna do. A lot of people would like to see a mini primary. - [Narrator] So here's how the party rules work and what the Democratic National Convention means for November. When President Biden won primary after primary this year, what he really won was a bunch of delegates. These delegates, who are elected by their peers, are the people who officially choose their party's presidential nominee. 18 votes. 26 votes. 46 votes for the next president of the United States.

- [Narrator] This year, Democrats have nearly 4,000 delegates, and on top of that, more than 700 Democratic superdelegates, who are essentially party VIPs. - I like to think of them as the people who govern with the president. All the United States senators who are Democrats, all the United States House members, Democratic governors, and members of the Democratic National Committee are superdelegates. - [Narrator] With Biden exiting the race, the nearly 4,000 regular delegates are now unpledged, or unbound. Harris has said that she intends to unite the party, and many state delegations and prominent Democrats have begun lining up behind her. - And it is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win. - [Narrator] If no other Democrat decides to challenge Harris, these delegates will likely support her, either by virtual vote or by a vote on the convention floor.

- And the convention would
move ahead pretty drama-free. - [Narrator] But if
others do decide to run, the process could become
more like a mini primary. In order to get their
name on the roll call vote and make speeches, a candidate
would have to circulate a petition and get more than
300 delegates to sign it. Then to win the nomination,
these candidates would have to get a majority of the
delegates to vote for them. - If there's multiple candidates, and you have this compressed season, you could probably bet it
might go more than one vote, because you'd wanna see who has the most support on
the floor of the convention. - [Narrator] In that case,
here's how things would work. On the first round of voting, the nearly 4,000 regular
delegates would vote. If no candidate wins a majority, a second round of voting begins, and this time the
superdelegates can weigh in.

If there's still no clear
winner, the delegates and superdelegates vote again and again and again until one
candidate wins a majority. The last time Democrats had
a multi-ballot convention was in the 1950s. - [Reporter] But with
the big field involved, the convention can only open
with a huge question mark. (cheery music) - [Narrator] It seems
unlikely at this point that the convention will be contested, but even if it is, Harris
would still have an advantage. - All of these delegates are elected because they have been
loyal Joe Biden supporters. You bet they're gonna
pay a lot of attention to what Joe Biden's wishes are. (peaceful music)

With Biden Out, Here’s How Democrats Will Choose a Nominee | WSJ

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