Ceremonial roll call for the 2020 Democratic National Convention explained

On the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, a roll call of the states was ceremonially held. Due to the then-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the roll call and convention were held virtually rather than in a single venue. Also due to the pandemic, formal voting on the party's nomination was done virtually and in advance of the convention, making the roll call at the convention purely ceremonial.^[1]

The roll call saw participation by all of the convention's 57 delegations (including all 50 states and seven additional territories/jurisdictions (the District of Columbia, the five inhabited U.S. territories, and Democrats Abroad).^[2] Organizers planned for it to last approximately 30 minutes.^[3] Convention secretary Jason Rae directed the roll call from Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.^[4]

The production of the remote roll call was widely praised.^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

Order of nominations

Announcing their states' delegates' nominations were:

List of speakers announcing delegations' roll-call votes, sortable

State	Speaker	Position/Notability	Location	Notes	Cite
Alabama			United States Representative from Alabama	Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama		[9] [10]
Alaska			Veteran, commercial fisherman, Alaska Native leader and Democratic Party activist			[11] [12]
American Samoa			Democratic Party leaders of American Samoa
Arizona			Middle school social studies teacher			[13]
Arkansas			Chef at Clinton Foundation	Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas
California			United States Representative from California
			Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from the 1st District and former United States Secretary of Labor
Colorado			Immigrant and party activist
Connecticut			Retired firefighter and firefighters' union leader	Hartford, Connecticut		[14]
Delaware			Governor of Delaware	Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station in Wilmington, Delaware	Passed to go last
		Tom Carper	United States Senator from Delaware
Democrats Abroad			International Chair of Democrats Abroad[15]	Prague, Czech Republic
District of Columbia			Mayor of the District of Columbia	Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC
Florida			Gun control activist	Pompano Beach, Florida
Georgia			Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, Georgia State Senator for Georgia's 39th state senate district and 2020 Democratic nominee for Georgia's 5th congressional district	Atlanta, Georgia
Guam			Chair of the Democratic Party of Guam
Hawaii			Civil rights activist
Idaho			Mayor of Boise	Boise, Idaho
Illinois			Former United States Senator from Illinois	Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois
Indiana			Former mayor of South Bend	South Bend, Indiana
Iowa			Former United States Secretary of Agriculture and former governor of Iowa
Kansas			Farmer
Kentucky			Education advocate
Louisiana			United States Representative from Louisiana	New Orleans, Louisiana
			Mayor of New Orleans
Maine			Maine State Representative from Maine's 82nd state house district	Winthrop, Maine
Maryland			President of the Baltimore City Council	Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park in Baltimore, Maryland
			College student
Massachusetts			Massachusetts State Representative from the Massachusetts House of Representatives' 11th Plymouth district
Michigan			United States senator from Michigan	Detroit, Michigan
			UAW auto worker
Minnesota			United States senator from Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota
			Mayor of St. Paul	St. Paul, Minnesota
Mississippi			President of Tougaloo College
Missouri			Bricklayer	St. Louis, Missouri
Montana			Recent college graduate			[16]
Nebraska			Meatpacking employee
Nevada			United States Representative from Nevada's 1st congressional district	Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign in Paradise, Nevada
New Hampshire			Former governor of New Hampshire
New Jersey			Governor of New Jersey	Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey
New Mexico			New Mexico State Representative from New Mexico's 65th state House district	Sandia Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico
New York			Registered nurse and member of 1199 SEIU		Lieutenant Governor of New York Kathy Hochul in attendance
North Carolina			Democratic activist	Charlotte, North Carolina
North Dakota			Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation citizen and advocate			[17]
Northern Mariana Islands			Chair of the Northern Mariana Islands Democratic Party
Ohio			United States Representative from Ohio's 13th congressional district
			IBEW organizer
Oklahoma			Chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party	Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Oregon			Activist	We Choose Love memorial in Portland, Oregon
			Registered Nurse
Pennsylvania			United States senator from Pennsylvania	Childhood home of Joe Biden in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico			Majority leader of the Puerto Rico Senate
Rhode Island			Chair of the Rhode Island Democratic Party and Rhode Island State Representative from Rhode Island's 19th state house district	Oakland Beach, Warwick	John Bordieri, a chef from Bristol, accompanied McNamara, holding a plate of fried calamari. His presence attracted much Internet chatter	[18]
South Carolina				South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina
South Dakota			Tribal activist of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe	Black Hills in South Dakota		[19]
Tennessee			College student	Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee	Hermitage Hotel was the location of the final ratification of the 19th Amendment (granting female suffrage) 100 years prior on August 18, 1920	[20]
Texas			United States Representative from Texas's 16th congressional district	El Paso, Texas
Utah			Mayor of Salt Lake County	Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah
Vermont			Lieutenant Governor of Vermont		Bernie Sanders and Jane Sanders in attendance
Virgin Islands, U.S.			Chair of the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands
Virginia			Lawyer	Freedom of Speech Wall, Charlottesville, Virginia
Washington			Washington State Representative from Washington's 41st state house district	Kerry Park in Seattle, Washington
West Virginia			Educator and union organizer
Wyoming			Activists, parents of Matthew Shepard
Wisconsin			Lieutenant governor of Wisconsin	Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Delaware			Governor of Delaware	Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station in Wilmington, Delaware
			United States senator from Delaware

See also

• Ceremonial roll call at the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Notes and References

1. Web site: Merica . Dan . Democrats reveal remote voting rules for convention amid pandemic . CNN . 12 April 2023 . en . 10 July 2020.
2. Web site: Report: Joe Biden may end up giving the only major Democratic convention speech from Milwaukee. Mary Spicuzza. Daniel Bice. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 22, 2020. July 22, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200722132720/https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/07/20/joe-biden-may-end-up-giving-only-major-dnc-speech-milwaukee/5476424002/. live.
3. Web site: Democrats Announce Inspiring Lineup of Americans Who Will Speak at the 2020 Democratic National Convention: "Uniting America" . 2020 Democratic National Convention . August 10, 2020 . August 10, 2020 . August 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200813122905/https://www.demconvention.com/press-releases/democrats-announce-inspiring-lineup-of-americans-who-will-speak-at-the-2020-democratic-national-convention-uniting-america/ . live.
4. Web site: August 11, 2020 . Democrats Announce Wisconsin Speakers and Schedule Updates for 2020 Democratic National Convention: "Uniting America" . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200817123952/https://www.demconvention.com/press-releases/democrats-announce-wisconsin-speakers-and-schedule-updates-for-2020-democratic-national-convention-uniting-america/ . August 17, 2020 . August 11, 2020 . 2020 Democratic National Convention.
5. Web site: Collinson. Stephen. Analysis: A risky roll call turns into a surprise moment of national unity. 2020-08-19. CNN. August 19, 2020.
6. Web site: Behrmann. Savannah. 'Looks like America': DNC's virtual roll call, the first of its kind, widely lauded online. 2020-08-19. USA TODAY. en-US.
7. Vanderhoof. Erin. The DNC Roll Call Was an American Travelogue—and an Unexpected Delight. 2020-08-19. Vanity Fair. August 18, 2020. en-us.
8. Web site: Cauterucci. Christina. 2020-08-19. The DNC's Roll Call Made Me Feel More Patriotic Than I Have in Years. 2020-08-19. Slate Magazine. en.
9. Web site: Democratic National Convention: Day 2 . YouTube.com . 2020 Democratic National Convention . August 19, 2020 . August 19, 2020 . August 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200819173636/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLANayJXv4I . live .
10. Web site: Deliso . Meredith . DNC's roll call across America a highlight of a largely virtual convention . ABC NEWS . August 19, 2020 . August 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200819040856/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dncs-roll-call-america-highlight-largely-virtual-convention/story?id=72457501 . live.
11. Web site: Dan Merica. Former opponents and Democratic activists to officially nominate Biden in revamped roll call vote. August 18, 2020 . 2020-08-19. CNN. August 18, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200818195300/https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/18/politics/roll-call-vote-dnc/index.html. live.
12. https://www.ktuu.com/2020/08/19/alaska-native-leader-featured-in-dnc-roll-call/ Alaska Native leader featured in DNC roll call
13. https://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2020/08/19/arizona-teacher-gets-turn-in-spotlight-as-democrats-officially-nominate-biden Arizona teacher gets turn in spotlight, as Democrats officially nominate Biden
14. Emilie Munson, Firefighters' union chief wins CT roll call honors at Democratic convention, CT Insider (August 18, 2020).
15. Web site: Volunteer Profile: Julia Bryan, International Chair . August 19, 2020 . August 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200819173611/https://www.democratsabroad.org/julia_bryan_profile . live.
16. Phil Drake, Montana delegation delivers 24 votes for Biden, 1 for Sanders, Great Falls Tribune (August 18, 2020).
17. Grace Kraemer, New Town man gets to cast North Dakota's Democratic delegates for president, KFYR-TV (August 19, 2020).
18. News: Armus . Teo . Farzan . Antonia Noori . August 19, 2020 . Calamari, Rhode Island's controversial state appetizer, becomes an unexpected star of Democratic convention . The Washington Post . August 30, 2021.
19. https://www.kotatv.com/2020/08/19/member-of-standing-rock-sioux-tribe-represents-south-dakota-during-dnc/ Member of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe represents South Dakota during DNC
20. Vanderhoof . Erin . The DNC Roll Call Was an American Travelogue—and an Unexpected Delight . Vanity Fair . August 19, 2020 . en-us . August 19, 2020 . August 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200819173624/https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/08/dnc-roll-call-american-travelogue . live.