Michigan Dems will not repeat primary

LANSING, Mich., April 4 (UPI) -- Michigan's Democratic voters won't be going to the polls in a do-over of the disputed Jan. 15 primary, the state's party leaders said Friday.

After reviewing the proposals for rerunning the primary, the party's leaders in Lansing said they "concluded that it was not practical to conduct such a primary or caucus."

The Democratic National Committee stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates to punish them for moving up their primaries earlier than party rules allowed.

The widely expected decision doesn't resolve the issue of Michigan's role in the tight presidential primary, the Detroit News reported. State party leaders previously said they must either negotiate a deal with presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, or hope that the national party eases a ban on the state's delegation to this summer's Democratic National Convention. Another option would be to appeal to the party's credentialing committee at the convention.

"We will continue to work with the Working Group, the DNC and the candidates to resolve this matter in a manner which is respectful of the views of Democrats in Michigan, and which is fair to those who voted in the January 15th Democratic primary," the party's state central committee said in a statement.