Hillary Clinton has officially become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, securing the support of 2, 842 delegates in the roll-call, despite sharp divisions and mass disappointment of Sanders’ delegates.
Clinton has now become the first woman in US history to receive an official presidential nomination from a major party and the opportunity to become the country’s first female president.
The roll-call vote has officially ended the race of the “disappointed” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s only party rival in the fight for the nomination.
Sanders, who officially endorsed the former Secretary two weeks ago, has spent the first two days of the convention in Philadelphia calling on his delegates and supporters to back Clinton as the only way to unite and defeat Donald Trump in November.
In a move meant to signify that unity, the Vermont senator has asked that his state vote last in the roll-call, despite the alphabetical order, so that he could see how Washington and Wisconsin cast their ballots before calling for Clinton to be nominated by acclamation.
As the roll-call ended, Sanders moved all of his 1,865 votes to Clinton, announcing her as the winner.
“I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules. I move that all votes, all votes cast by delegates be reflected in the official record and I move that Hilary Clinton be selected as a nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States,” Sanders said after his state announced its vote, closing the roll-call.
Eight years ago, Clinton did the same thing when running against then-Illinois Senator Barack Obama, releasing her delegates and cutting the traditional convention roll-call vote short with a motion that Obama be declared the nominee by acclamation.
The Democratic roll call vote on the party’s official nomination has shown strong support for Sanders, whose name was also put forward on the floor. The procedure has been said to be “mostly symbolic” and is widely seen as a gesture for the thousands of disappointed Sanders’ supporters that have been protesting Hilary Clinton’s nomination since Day One of the Convention.
The Vermont Senator managed to secured the support of 1,894 delegates, versus Clinton’s 2,807. However, he still came up short of clinching the official nomination, which requires 2,383 delegates.
Sanders has been urging his delegates to support Clinton with their votes, a call that has been met with loud boos by his supporters.
READ MORE: Sanders urges supporters to stop booing & support Clinton to beat Trump
The crowd erupted with chants “We want Bernie!” and “Take it to the floor!” drowning out chants of “Hillary! Hillary!” from Clinton supporters.
“We have got to obviously elect Hillary Clinton,” Sanders told delegates from Wisconsin, Montana, and Alaska on Tuesday.
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Despite Sanders’s calls for the party to unite behind his rival, his supporters took to the streets under the burning sun for the second day on Tuesday, chanting “Bernie or bust!”