LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — In less than two weeks, thousands of delegates from across the nation will converge on the United Center in Chicago, from August 19 through 22 for the Democratic National Convention.
Soon after President Biden announced his withdrawal from the race, he pushed support toward Kamala Harris as a Democratic candidate to run in his place.
Within weeks, she secured enough support among delegates to accept the nomination in Chicago later this month.
Ahead of the convention, one of our viewers questioned whether the newly formed Harris campaign is keeping up with election rules in Arkansas. He asked whether Harris met the election filing deadline, which he said was in November of 2023.
We reached out to the Democratic Party of Arkansas, who issued the following response:
“There is no filing deadline for presidential candidates in the general election, the way there are for state, district, and local level candidates."
The reason? Instead of being selected in the Arkansas primary, a nominee for president is subject to a national process that culminates at the party's convention.
The Secretary of State's Office added that the Arkansas Democratic Party has until the 22 of August to inform them of their presidential nominee— so that deadline has not yet arrived.
Viewers also questioned whether the Harris campaign has met all other relevant filing deadlines, fees, and state-required registrations.
The Democratic Party stated in response: "There are no relevant state filing deadlines, fees, or registrations, and that the party's six presidential electors were chosen in accordance with party rules and state law at its state convention on June 8th."
The party also points out that Harris is qualified to run for president by meeting the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, all state and federal laws, and party rules.
So yes, we can verify that the Harris campaign is considered valid in the state of Arkansas.
In terms of whether Kamala Harris is legally allowed to use campaign funds originally allocated to President Biden, legal analysts explained it is allowed since her name was already on the ticket.
They added if a complaint was made to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the FEC historically can take years to resolve such a complaint, and by then, the election would have ended long ago.