What’s the Real Biden Decision Deadline?

The Washington Post reports:

Should Biden bow out now — before he officially becomes the party’s nominee — legal experts say replacing him on the ballot would be relatively straightforward. The process would become significantly more complex and legally murky, however, were he to drop out once he has been officially nominated.

Time is tight: Biden is slated to become the nominee through a virtual roll call of party delegates Aug. 5, two weeks before Democrats gather for their convention in Chicago on Aug. 19….

Experts said Republicans could try to object to Biden’s replacement in court. But if he drops out before the convention and delegates vote on someone else as the Democrats’ presidential pick, they said, any challenge to placing that person on the ballot would immediately be dismissed. If Biden were to drop out after becoming the Democratic nominee, the legal landscape is a bit less clear.

I agree that it would be legally unproblematic to replace Biden on ballots before he officially becomes the party’s nominee, whatever some people might be saying for their own reasons. But what is that deadline? The Post reports that the virtual roll call will take place on August 5. But this CNN report (also posted yesterday evening) says “no decisions have been made on the format or timing of the vote” and that a “DNC spokesperson told CNN that no date has been decided for the electronic roll call.” More to come on that, I’m sure.

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