Delegates will choose a new nominee now that President Biden has stepped aside, possibly at an open convention in August.

there are two paths for replacing him at the top of the Democratic ticket. One is a virtual vote that would lock in a new nominee in early August, and the other is an “open” convention, a scenario the party hasn’t experienced since 1968. A convention is open when no candidate arrives with a clear majority of delegates, so the event turns into a mini-primary in which contenders scramble to persuade delegates to vote for them. The potential for chaos is high, and the time is short. Some states have August deadlines to get on the ballot for the general election, and early voting begins in some places in September. So party leaders probably will try to settle the nomination before the Democratic National Convention begins Aug. 19. Here’s how the process could play out.

Who will pick the nominee? A few thousand delegates representing voters officially decide on the party’s nominee, whether a convention is open or not. Typically they choose the winner of the primaries — that’s what they are sent to do — so it may feel as if the voters choose directly.

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