ATLANTA — Thursday marked the beginning of a new step in the election process as Democratic delegates in Georgia and across the nation started casting their ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

This comes after President Joe Biden stepped aside, paving the way for Harris to be the new choice as the Democratic nominee.

Democratic State Sen. Gloria Butler and State Rep. Billy Mitchell, both from Stone Mountain, have expressed their full support for Harris.

“Unusual times call for unusual methods,” Mitchell said.

He emphasized that delegates who had initially pledged to Biden now need to cast their votes for a different candidate. The ballots for this process were sent out Thursday.

Mitchell explained the options available to the delegates.

“We could put down Kamala Harris or we could indicate someone else,” Mitchell said.

He has already cast his vote for Harris and believes she will become the official presumptive nominee by the end of the voting period on Aug. 9.

Butler, who is also a Georgia delegate and the state Senate Minority Leader, expressed her enthusiasm about being part of this process.

“We’ve already taken our own count, so all of our delegates are on board and excited,” Butler said.

She mentioned that while not all delegates were originally for Biden, there is unanimous support for Harris among the Georgia delegates.

Mitchell is confident that Harris will be confirmed as the nominee at the convention in Chicago.

“The purpose of the convention is when we will actually have the roll call of states which she will officially be our nominee,” Mitchell said.

The delegates’ next step will be heading to Chicago to make Harris’ nomination official.