Democrats taking first steps toward letting convention delegates vote remotely

The Democratic Party is set to adopt new rules during a virtual meeting on Tuesday, and under the proposed changes, delegates would be able to participate in this year's summer convention even if they are not physically there.

The party's rules and bylaws committee will likely adopt language that allows "maximum flexibility to plan a safe event that guarantees every delegate can accomplish their official business without putting their own health at risk," The Washington Post reports. If the rules committee does approve the new language, the full Democratic National Committee will vote on it sometime within the next few weeks.

The Democratic National Convention was scheduled for July in Milwaukee, but as the coronavirus pandemic intensified, leaders pushed it back to start on August 17. There are nearly 5,000 voting delegates, and tens of thousands of other guests were expected to attend the event.

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During an interview with C-SPAN over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she suggested to Democratic Party Chair Tom Perez that the convention could be condensed from one week to one day, with participants, all seated at least six feet apart, gathering at an outdoor stadium. This would cut the number of people in attendance from 80,000 to about 16,000.