Dems restore delegates to Florida, Michigan

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) - Resolving a lingering dispute on the eve of its national convention, the Democratic Party restored full voting rights to the delegations from Florida and Michigan on Sunday.

The unanimous vote by the Democratic National Committee ends sanctions that stripped those states of their delegates after they held presidential primaries in January. Democratic leaders had tried to limit early contests in the 2008 presidential race to New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada, and responded by stripping both states of their convention delegates.

Ending those sanctions and getting those states' delegations seated had been a goal of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who won those contests in her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The party's presumptive nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, endorsed lifting the sanctions after Clinton's withdrawal from the race.