Who will succeed Joe Biden? A few hours after the US president's surprise announcement, Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, looked set for an uncontested nomination. Most of her potential rivals had thrown their support behind her, following Biden's example, for what promises to be an unprecedented presidential election campaign: No incumbent US president has ever announced that he was withdrawing from the race so late.

Yet nothing is completely settled. Until the party's candidate for the November 5 presidential election has been formally endorsed by the Democratic National Convention, the law that prevails is not one provided for by the US Constitution, but the party's bylaws. The president's support – and that of the party's bigwigs – may have come almost immediately, but it does not suffice to automatically designate the vice president as the party's champion. According to the rules of procedure, the delegates are the ones who choose the candidate.

During the Democratic primaries, Biden had received some 14 million votes. He had 3,896 delegates. Their votes will, however, not be automatically transferred to his vice president at the convention, which is due to be held in Chicago, Illinois, from August 19 to 22.

According to Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution think tank, who herself is a member of the committee that sets the rules of procedure, delegates are free to vote as they please. A section of the rules, known as the "conscience clause," stipulates that delegates are only required to "in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them," a concept as vague as it is subjective. There is therefore no obligation for the delegates to vote for Harris. The vice president acknowledged this in her first statement. "I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination," she said.

Democratic National Convention Chair Jaime Harrison spelled out the process to follow and hinted at the time frame: "The work that we must do now, while unprecedented, is clear. In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November. This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people."

Prior to August 7, the party had planned to conduct the customary roll call at the convention. Several delegations – Louisiana, North Carolina, etc. – have already announced their support for the vice president. The Association of State Democratic Committees, meanwhile, reported that an "overwhelming majority" of the 57 state party leaders had come out in favor of her.

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