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Mich., Fla. delegates to receive full votes at DNC

August 24, 2008

Obama

Denver — Michigan’s delegates at the Democratic National Convention will receive full votes when selecting the party’s presidential nominee.

The Democratic National Convention Credentials Committee unanimously voted Sunday to restore all of Michigan’s 157 delegate votes nine months after they were revoked for holding an early primary.

Michigan held its presidential primary Jan. 15 despite traditionally waiting for Super Tuesday in early February.

By bumping up the election, Michigan officials violated the Democratic National Committee’s rules and the state’s delegation lost all its votes at the convention.

In May, each delegate was given a half-vote as a compromise when it became clear Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., would be the party’s presidential nominee.

Florida, which also moved its primary date, will receive all of its 210 votes after Sunday’s decision.

The change should help smooth over relations with voters in Michigan and Florida, two swing states that could help decide the November election.

“This decision was expected and it’s also a good one,” said Richard Wiener, a Michigan delegate and member of the Democratic National Committee.

“As a nominee, Senator Obama has called for Michigan to receive all its votes.”

In the past two months, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said she was confident the votes would be restored before delegates voted for either Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., later this week.

“I think in the grand scheme of things, while there is some significance to it, there are things that are more important to voters,” said Chris DeWitt, a Granholm spokesman.

He added that topics such as the economy and renewable energy, which Granholm will address while hosting a town hall meeting Tuesday evening, likely will have more of an impact on voters than whether Michigan’s delegates receive their full votes.

According to the Democratic National Convention Committee, 69 delegates from Michigan are pledged to Clinton, 59 are pledged to Obama and 29 are unpledged as of mid-July.

Sunday’s decision leaves open the question of how states will schedule their primaries for the 2012 presidential election because Michigan and Florida each received their full votes despite holding early primaries.

“We had the guts to take the system on, and we made progress this year,” U.S. Sen. Carl Levin told The Associated Press after the decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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