MILWAUKEE — With just 16 weeks until Election Day, a new AP-NORC poll shows 65% of Democrats want President Joe Biden to drop out of the race. The poll numbers come as some in the party worry the nominating process will be rushed.
But Gov. Tim Walz is trying to tamp down concerns that Democratic leaders would fast-track the virtual vote to nominate Biden.
Walz is co-chair of the Democratic National Convention's Rules Committee. Wednesday, he signed a letter to committee members revealing their virtual voting process will not begin before Aug. 1.
"And we just need to get it done probably by the 15 of Aug.," Walz said.
The governor explained this timeline for the first time at a pro-Biden press conference in Milwaukee Wednesday.
The Aug 1-15 window means voting will occur before the party's big convention in Chicago, which runs Aug. 19-22. It also means questions around Biden's ability to do a second term will need to be resolved by then.
As for the reason voting is virtual, Walz and his co-chair call it the "wisest approach," writing, "It ensures ballot access in the states that we need to win in November and avoids potential risks if there is delay in the process." This includes questions about Ohio's ballot procedures.
"I don't trust them in Ohio to do this, but that's not the only reason for it," Walz said. "We need to get these things done. We need to get the roll call done."
At the same time, their letter states the virtual voting process will not be rushed. It also lays out what the rules committee can expect in its first meeting this coming Friday.
"It was scheduled way before the debate," Walz said. "It was scheduled way before anything else, and the process and the agenda for this was to start setting the rules for the convention, which we've always done."
Some activists are planning to protest the virtual roll call vote and insist on a new nominee. They'll be at DNC headquarters in Washington on Friday as the rules committee meets.