After months of discussions and proposed solutions to seat the Michigan delegation at the Democratic National Convention, the national Democratic Party's Rules Committee voted Saturday to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations but cut their voting power in half.

The results of the Jan. 15 primary would have allotted 73 votes to Sen. Hillary Clinton, while the state's remaining 55 delegates would have been uncommitted to any candidate. Sen. Barack Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan at the request of the national party.

The committee approved a plan awarding 69 Michigan delegates to Clinton and 59 Michigan delegates to Sen. Barack Obama. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention, meaning the Michigan delegates will add 34.5 votes to Clinton's tally and 29.5 votes to Obama's total. The plan is a compromise between solutions favored by each candidate.

Clinton's camp said the delegates should be distributed based solely on the results of the state's primary. However, Obama's campaign argued the delegates should be split evenly between the two candidates because Obama's name wasn't on the ballot.

The DNC revoked the Michigan convention delegation because the state moved its primary to Jan. 15 in violation of DNC rules. A committee of four state Democrats then formed to find a way for the delegation to be seated. The committee originally suggested holding a new contest but eventually ruled out that option because of financial and logistical obstacles.

The committee drafted the 69-54 deal approved by the Rules Committee in early May. It received overwhelming support from Michigan Democratic Party officials.

MDP spokeswoman Liz Kerr said she considered the deal struck by the Rules Committee a victory - and not just in the fight to seat the delegation.

"Michigan has been a leader in breaking the stranglehold that Iowa and New Hampshire has on the nominating process," she said, referring to the state party's desire to increase the significance of midwestern industrial states in the presidential nominating process.

In its case to seat the state's delegation, the MDP argued that because New Hampshire was granted a waiver for moving its primary ahead and violating party rules, Michigan should also be granted a waiver, Kerr said.

While the Rules Committee only restored half the delegation's voting strength, Kerr said she expects the convention's Credentials Committee to restore the delegation to full voting power.

"Although the (presidential) nomination is the biggest thing that we do at the convention, we do vote on a number of other things," Kerr said. "We're being prevented from having a full voice on other important matters within the National Democratic Party."

The committee passed the deal 19-8 after nine hours of deliberation, while audience members interrupted and heckled committee speakers.

"How can you call yourselves Democrats if you don't count the vote?" asked one of the many hecklers in the audience. "This is not the Democratic Party!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.