Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to officially be the party’s nominee for president, Democratic National Committee chair Jamie Harrison has said.
The online voting process does not end until Monday, but the campaign marked the moment when she crossed the threshold to have the majority of delegates’ votes.
Ms Harris is poised to be the first woman of colour at the top of a major party’s ticket.
“I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates, and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday,” Mr Harrison said during a call with supporters.
Democrats have pushed ahead with a virtual vote to nominate Ms Harris, nearing the culmination of a turbulent process that was upended by President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election.
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began voting via secure email on Thursday, and the voting will remain open until Monday evening.
Ms Harris has not yet chosen her running mate, and she is expected to interview candidates over the weekend.
The formal nomination is expected to be finalised by August 7 even though the party’s convention in Chicago is not scheduled to begin for more than two more weeks.
Democratic officials have said the accelerated timeline was necessary because of an August 7 deadline to ensure candidates appear on the Ohio ballot.
Ms Harris was endorsed by Mr Biden shortly after he dropped out of the race, catapulting her to the forefront of the campaign to beat Republican nominee Donald Trump.
No other major candidate challenged Ms Harris for the nomination, and she was the only choice for delegates under party rules that required pledges of support from at least 300 delegates, with no more than 50 signatures from any one delegation.
Any delegate who wants to vote for someone other than Ms Harris will be tallied as “present”.
Democrats still plan a state-by-state roll call during the convention, the traditional way that a nominee is chosen. However, that will be purely ceremonial because of the online voting.
The party insists it has to have its nominee in place before its convention opens in Chicago on August 19 to make sure it meets ballot access deadlines in Ohio — an argument that the state’s Republicans dispute.
Ohio state lawmakers have since changed the deadline, but the modification does not take effect until September 1.
Democratic attorneys warn that waiting until after the initial deadline to determine a presidential nominee could prompt legal challenge.
