Why Did 3 States Initially 'Pass' Rather Than Cast Votes for VP Kamala Harris at DNC 2024? Tradition Explained!

On Tuesday, the 2024 Democratic National Convention held its ceremonial roll call, in which states cast their nominations one by one.

Three states – California, Alabama and Minnesota – chose to “pass” rather than cast their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris, and there’s a reason!

Keep reading to find out more…

One tradition is that the home state of the nominee generally passes, then goes near the end to pass the deciding vote to formally secure the nomination.

California and Minnesota, the home states of Vice President Kamala and her running mate Tim Walz (where Walz is also governor), passed during the convention roll call.

This year, Minnesota could get the count close and let Kamala‘s California and its delegates put her over the top as the Democratic nominee, per NBC Chicago.

Alabama also passed on their turn to Delaware, allowing the roll call to start with President Joe Biden’s home state, ending with California and Minnesota.

Besides the three states, the event moves forward with states going in alphabetical order to pledge their delegates to the ticket.

All 57 delegations from the 50 states and U.S. territories participate in the voice vote. The passing of the vote is tradition, although this year’s roll call was unique, complete with “walk-up music” by in-house DJ, DJ Cassidy.

This year’s roll call was only ceremonial in nature because Democrats nominated the ticket prior to August 7, the original deadline for Ohio officials to secure spots on the November ballot. See what other moments just happened at the DNC!