The 2016 Democratic National Convention was held from July 25 – 28 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia , with some events at the Pennsylvania Convention Center . The delegates selected the Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees and wrote the party platform . A simple majority of 2,383 delegates was needed to win the presidential nomination . While most of the delegates were bound on the first ballot according to the results of the primaries , a progressively larger number of pledged delegates would have become unbound if the nomination required more than one ballot . Clinton was nominated on the first ballot by acclamation , although all states were allowed to announce how they would have voted under a typical roll call vote . On July 12 , 2016 , the Vermont delegates had supported Clinton in Sanders ' request ; asking for party unity , he dropped out on July 26 , 2016 and announced he would return to the Senate as an independent
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries