What happens next: Open convention, does Kamala get the nomination straight away? All your questions answered

President Biden dropped retired of nan 2024 statesmanlike title connected Sunday mounting disconnected an unprecedented concatenation of events that sets Democrats scrambling to to person a nominee for nan apical of nan summons successful spot pinch little than 4 months to spell earlier Election Day. 

The Democratic National Convention is group to footwear disconnected August 19 done 22 successful Chicago wherever Biden had been group to formally judge nan information having received 3,896 delegates during nan primaries. 

More than 4,600 delegates and 1000 of different statement officials will now caput to nan metropolis without Biden arsenic nan presumptive nominee for nan Democratic ticket. 

The president made nan announcement successful a missive to his chap Americans wherever he wrote it has been nan top grant of his life to service arsenic president.

'While it has been my volition to activity reelection, I judge it is successful nan champion liking of my statement and nan state for maine to guidelines down and to attraction solely connected fulfilling my duties arsenic President for nan remainder of my term,' he wrote. 

He did not make an endorsement of different Democrat, alternatively penning he would speak to nan state later this week pinch much specifications astir his decision.  

His announcement came conscionable weeks aft nan president's disastrous statement capacity raised questions complete whether he was fresh for a 2nd term. Some Democratic lawmakers called publically for him to exit nan race. Others kept their opinions down closed doors. 

Voters were divided connected nan way forward.  Several polls showed a mostly of Democrats thought he should exit nan race, but galore said they would still ballot for him if he stayed in. 

Only Biden could make nan determination successful his exit. Now that he's made it, here's what happens next: 

What are nan nominating rules? 

The Democratic statement does person rules successful spot which do find what happens should nan president measurement speech earlier being formally nominated. 

While Biden had nan basal delegates his general information was group to return spot during a virtual rotation telephone earlier nan convention. The latest guidance is that it would hap successful nan first 2 weeks of August but not earlier August 1.

Because Biden exited nan title earlier officially becoming nan nominee - nan much than 3,900 pledged delegates get to formed their ballots successful an unfastened normal for whichever campaigner they want.

Every replacement to Biden whose sanction has been floated anterior to him dropping retired of nan title insisted they were backing Biden. It's not clear who would jump successful nan title pinch his departure.  

Delegates told DailyMail.com anterior to his exit that they would beryllium sticking pinch Biden. Only immoderate were consenting to estimate connected an alternate action but galore suggested it should beryllium Vice President Kamala Harris. 

If a campaigner wins nan mostly of pledged delegates connected nan first ballot, they go nan statement nominee. 

If nary campaigner gets a majority, past nan alleged astir 740 superdelegates, besides known arsenic automatic delegates, get to ballot arsenic well. They see a operation of statement members and elected officials. 

Voting continues until a campaigner gets a mostly of delegates.

Before Biden dropped retired of nan race, he expressed assurance successful his second-in-command Vice President Kamala Harris. At nan clip he had insisted he was not exiting nan title but said connected July 11 that he 'wouldn't person picked her' if he 'didn't deliberation she was qualified to beryllium president.' 

Also giving nan vice president a boost arsenic nan viable replacement is nan money race. 

What happens to nan money?

One of nan biggest challenges for Democrats is really to raise a massive sum of cash big capable to return connected Donald Trump successful a short magnitude of time. The Biden warfare thorax would not needfully travel to his replacement leaving a batch of money connected nan table. 

 In nan 2nd 4th of nan year, nan Biden squad brought successful a full of $264 cardinal and vanished June pinch $240 cardinal rate connected hand.

Federal candidates tin make unlimited transfers of their costs to nan nationalist party, truthful Biden could time off each nan money pinch nan Democratic Party, which tin past walk nan money connected nan caller nominee.

But nan run cannot conscionable transportation nan money straight to nan nominee, arsenic location is simply a $2,000 limit per campaigner per election. Rather than springiness nan money straight to a campaign, it would person to beryllium refunded to nan original donors, who would past person to springiness it to nan candidate.

The 1 personification who would not look nan aforesaid hurdles arsenic a replacement nominee is Harris.

Campaign finance rule allows her to stock nan run committee pinch Biden because nan president and vice president tally together arsenic 1 ticket, truthful her sanction is already authorized.