WASHINGTON — One thing hasn’t changed now that President Joe Biden is no longer seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination: Democratic convention delegates remain free to vote for whomever they want to be their party’s nominee, regardless of the results of the primary.
The only command to delegates under current convention rules is to “in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” After a primary process in which Biden won virtually every contest and faced no true opposition, those “sentiments” were easy to predict.
Now, that means those Democratic delegates can do whatever they want, as Biden himself acknowledged this month answering a question from a reporter during his NATO news conference.
“Obviously they’re free to do whatever they want,” he said.
Biden’s campaign played a big role in picking the delegates, choosing supporters for their loyalty. So it’s likely that Biden’s endorsement of Harris will have some sway with these members. But it’s not a directive.
That flexibility has been the case since the 1984 convention, Democratic rules expert Elaine Kamarck, who is also the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution, said on NBC News’ “The Chuck Toddcast” last week.
