2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention is an event in which delegates of the United States Democratic Party will choose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election. Originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020, the convention was postponed to August 17–20, 2020, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The presumptive nominee for the 2020 convention is Joe Biden. It is yet to be determined who Biden will pick as his running mate, though he has committed to choosing a female Democrat.
The event is scheduled to be based at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, having been moved from its originally planned location at the city's Fiserv Forum. The format is planned to be substantially different from previous conventions, with events held at many venues across the country, and much of the activity taking place remotely.
Background
Site selection
Bids on the site for the convention were solicited in late 2017 and were made public in the spring of 2018. Las Vegas later withdrew and decided to focus on the 2020 Republican National Convention, for which its bid was subsequently defeated by Charlotte.On June 20, 2018, the Democratic National Committee announced four finalists for the convention site. Immediately following the announcement, the finalist city of Denver withdrew from consideration due to apparent scheduling conflicts.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced on March 11, 2019, that Milwaukee would host the convention.
The selection of Milwaukee will make this the first Democratic National Convention to be hosted in the Midwestern United States since Chicago hosted the 1996 Democratic National Convention, and the first to be hosted in a midwestern city other than Chicago since St. Louis hosted the 1916 Democratic National Convention.
Bids
Winner
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Finalists
- Denver, Colorado withdrew after finalist selection
- Houston, Texas
- Miami, Florida
Other bids
Atlanta had previously hosted the 1988 convention.Change of venue
On June 24, it was announced that the convention had been downsized and would be held at Milwaukee's Wisconsin Center instead of its originally planned venue, Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum.The change of location will make this the first major party convention held in a convention center since the 1996 Republican National Convention, and the first Democratic convention to be held in such a venue since the 1984 Democratic National Convention.
Role of superdelegates
are delegates to the convention who are automatically chosen by the party, rather than by the results of primaries and caucuses. While technically unpledged, in the past many of them have informally pledged themselves to a predesignated front-runner in previous elections. The superdelegate system is controversial among Democrats, and supporters of both Clinton and Sanders have called for their removal in 2020.The Unity Reform Commission, created after the 2016 election, recommended that the number of 2020 superdelegates be drastically reduced. In July of 2018, the DNC revoked the voting rights for superdelegates on the first ballot, which has not happened since 1952 for the presidential nomination and 1956 for the vice-presidential nomination.
Except for the presidential nomination, superdelegates will vote on all issues.
Selection of pledged delegates
The number of delegates allocated to each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., are based on, among others, the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections. A fixed number of pledged delegates are allocated to each of the five U.S. territories and Democrats Abroad.Qualification of suspended campaigns
The Democratic National Committee's 2020 selection rules state that any candidate who is no longer running loses the statewide delegates they have won and those delegates are then reallocated to candidates still in the race. However, the interpretation of this rule in 2020 races might be different than the interpretation in past races. In previous elections, such as the 2008 presidential primary, candidates would suspend their candidacies rather than formally withdraw, allowing their already pledged delegates to attend the convention and pick up new ones along the way.Some controversy occurred in April 2020 when the New York state presidential primary was canceled over the COVID-19 pandemic. The New York State Board of Elections then cancelled the Democratic primary, in part to protect public health, but citing a state law allowing cancellation of elections that are uncontested.
The Sanders campaign stated that Sanders had not withdrawn and neither Sanders nor the DNC had requested the cancellation, and demanded that the DNC overturn the decision or disqualify New York's delegates.
On April 28, Andrew Yang and several Yang delegates filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Board of Elections over the same cancellation. Oral arguments were heard on May 4. On May 5, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled that Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision to scrap the state's primary violated the 1st and 14th Amendment rights of presidential contenders who have ended their campaigns, and the Board of Elections issued a ruling requiring New York to hold its presidential primary in June, and to restore Sen. Bernie Sanders and other former presidential candidates to the ballot.
Logistics
Before it was downsized, 50,000 people had been expected to attend the convention. 31 state delegations were to stay in 2,926 Milwaukee-area hotel rooms and 26 delegations were to stay in 2,841 hotel rooms in Lake County and Rosemont, Illinois. Another 11,000 hotel rooms were to house volunteers, members of the media, donors, and other attendees.Milwaukee had been planning an extension of its streetcar line to be completed in advance of the convention. However, these plans faltered, and the expansion will not be completed in time for the convention.
Organizers were originally planning to recruit 15,000 volunteers.
Delay
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention has been delayed to August 17–20. The DNC authorized its convention planners on May 12 to research alternative methods for participants to cast votes, considering that the DNC may decide to hold the entire convention online.Downsizing
On June 24, it was announced that the convention was to be downsized. The venue was shifted from the Fiserv Forum to Wisconsin Center. Biden and his runningmate will still both accept their nominations in Milwaukee, but instead of the entire convention being held there, it will now feature Milwaukee only as just a hub city for the major convention events. The convention plans consist of what the DNC says will be "curated content from Milwaukee and other satellite cities, locations, and landmarks across the country".All official business will be conducted remotely. Organizers canceled official parties and events scheduled to be held in Milwaukee before and coinciding with the convention.
The owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Fiserv Forum is threatening to sue the Democratic Party, which is refusing to pay the full rent on the abandoned venue.
Security
As is routine for a major party convention, the event has been designated a National Special Security Event.The boundaries of the planned security footprint, in which increased security measures will be implemented, but in which individuals not attending the convention will still be permitted, was announced in January 2020. The streets marking the boundary of the announced footprint will be Cherry Street on the north, 10th Street on the west, Clybourn Street, and Water Street on the east.
A fenced perimeter will be erected surrounding the convention venue.
In late July, more than 100 police agencies announced that they would be withdrawing from their contracts to provide personnel to aid in security during the convention after the Milwaukee police chief announced that their department would restrict the use of tear gas and pepper spray by law enforcement during demonstrations and protests.
Programming
While the primary purpose of political conventions is, and always was, to decide who the nominees for president and vice president are to be, the secondary purpose was always that of socializing. Entertainment is also a major element of the event, which in the past has included a house band for the main venue, theater, culinary experiences, and large amounts of motivational speaking. Indeed, the convention experience for attendees at the venue itself is extremely different from that for the viewer at home. With live coverage of the event limited, outside of the three major news networks and C-SPAN, to the keynote and acceptance speeches, the challenge to the DNC is how to boost ratings while increasing the nominee's lead in opinion polls. With social distancing still paramount to ensure the safety of the tens of thousands of people who were due to attend the main venue in Milwaukee, will not be able to do so, alternative methods are planned for a series of satellite venues across the country.Satellite locations
When party officials concluded that the pandemic would make a traditional convention impossible, they decided to adopt a format that was dramatically different from past conventions. The event has been officially dubbed "A Convention Across America".While the convention will be anchored in Milwaukee, the events will be held in a dozen or so satellite sites spread out across the nation. From there, the delegations will transmit their votes on the floor of the Wisconsin Center, where a representative will announce the votes to relevant officials at the chair in the main venue.
Platform
In April, shortly after Sanders endorsed Biden, the two created a "Unity task force" to draft a version of the party platform.Due to the virus, the method of drafting the platform changed radically. A was set up in which testimony from the general public might be taken.
The Platform Drafting Committee Chair is Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.
Drafting process
Public hearings were live-streamed on the DNCC’s YouTube channel during the week of July 1 on the following topics:- Monday, June 29 from 5-8pm ET: Addressing the COVID-19 Health Crisis and Building Back Better
- Wednesday, July 1 from 5-8pm ET: A Vision for a More Equitable Future
- Thursday, July 2 from 5-8pm ET: Restoring the Soul of America
Platform provisions
The Biden/Sanders platform task force issued its 110-page report on July 9.Ratification
Ratification of the platform is pending.Over three hundred Sanders delegates have signed a statement vowing to vote against the platform if it doesn't include Medicare for All and other key aspects of their campaign.
Convention leadership
, former president of the Human Rights Campaign, was named convention CEO in March 2019.Congressman Bennie Thompson will serve as the Permanent Chair of the convention.
Permanent Co-Chairs will be Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, congressman Tony Cardenas of California, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
The convention's vice-chairs will be Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, former congressman Tony Coelho of California, congresswoman Sharice Davids of Kansas, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan Garlin Gilchrist, congresswoman Donna Shalala of Florida, congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Mandela Barnes, and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Kate Marshall.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will serve as honorary chairs.
The convention's sergeant-at-arms will be congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin.
Programming will be overseen by Ricky Kirshner.
Nominating and balloting
Pre-convention delegate count
The table below reflects the presumed delegate count as per the 2020 Democratic primaries., the following overall number of pledged delegates is subject to change, as possible penalty/bonus delegates may be altered.
Candidates who have suspended their campaigns without having received any pledged or superdelegate endorsements, as well as those who've suspended their campaigns and subsequently lost their endorsements to other candidates, are not included in the table below.
| Candidate | Pledged delegates |
| Joe Biden | 2,509 |
| Bernie Sanders | 1,113 |
| Elizabeth Warren | 67 |
| Michael Bloomberg | 47 |
| Pete Buttigieg | 21 |
| Amy Klobuchar | 7 |
| Tulsi Gabbard | 2 |
| Total delegate votes | 4,753 |
Presidential and vice presidential balloting
In an email, DNC Secretary Jason Rae wrote to delegates outlining the process for that year's convention, noting that the planning committee "concluded that state delegations should not plan to travel to Milwaukee and official convention business will be conducted remotely."Delegates vote remotely using a system the planning committee crafted that allows them to cast their ballots via email, with unique identifiers for security. The DNC had plans to certify each delegate.
The party said delegates will be able to fill out the forms electronically, with no need for a printer or physical copy, according to the letter. The ballot, which includes questions about platform planks and the party's nominees, will be emailed to their state's committee. Once a state party has all the ballots from their delegation, the state delegation's chair "will submit a tally sheet to the Secretary's Office that formally records the number of votes cast on each item of convention business," The votes will be counted all at once on August 15, not as they come in.
Voting will begin August 3 and will end August 15, when the state delegation chairs are asked to submit their final tallies to the DNC secretary. That means the party will know the tally of votes for its nominee before the four-day convention formally kicks off on August 17.
Schedule
Pre-convention committee meetings are to be streamed on Zoom and other platforms.August 17, Monday
9:00-11:00pm ESTTheme: "A United America"
- Opening ceremonies
- Committee reports
- Jill Biden, spouse of the presidential nominee and former Second Lady of the United States
August 18, Tuesday
9:00-11:00pm ESTTheme: "Steady Leadership"
- Keynote address
- Presidential candidate nominating and seconding speeches
- Roll call vote for the presidential nominee
On August 18, speakers will include at least one former president and speakers from a number of swing states.
August 19, Wednesday
9:00-11:00pm ESTTheme: "A Future for All"
- acceptance speech by the nominee for vice president
August 20, Thursday
9:00-11:00pm ESTTheme: "A New American Promise"
Confirmed speakers:
- Presidential nominee Joe Biden
Speakers and other events
Individuals that have been reported as likely speakers include Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.Additionally, a number of Republicans are also reported to speak at the convention, including former Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Caucus meetings and other events will be streamed on various platforms.
Demonstrations and protests
It is anticipated that there will be demonstrations and protests held outside of the convention, with several groups having scheduled protests in Milwaukee during the convention. Ryan Hamann, co-chair of the "Coalition to March on the DNC" has stated that his coalition's planned protests will focus on police reform, in effect being a continuance of the nationwide George Floyd protests.Broadcast and media coverage
The convention will be slimmed down from previous iterations in terms of the length of television programming it will provide, with only two hours of televised events taking place on each night of the convention. In contrast, for the Democratic and Republican conventions of 2016, the "Big Three" domestic television networks each aired four-hours of prime time coverage. Additionally, in past years, domestic 24-hour cable news channels would broadcast wall-to-wall coverage of day-long proceedings at the conventions.Unlike past conventions, it appears that most broadcasters will not be sending correspondents to the convention site., only Fox News was confirmed to be sending correspondents to the convention site. Instead, most broadcasters are reportedly planning to have their correspondents provide coverage from network studios in New York City and Washington, D.C.