LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democratic party leaders are floating yet another idea for a do-over election to get Michigan's delegates seated at the Democratic National Convention.

The latest proposal would involve a state-run Democratic primary that would be held in May or June and would be paid for by Democratic donors.

Michigan and Florida were stripped of their Democratic delegates after they moved up their primaries to January. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won both states, but no delegates. Her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, did not even appear on Michigan's ballot.

Now, the two states are trying to find a say to get their delegates seated.

Michigan Democratic leaders are considering having the state run a Democratic primary in late spring. The plan must get Republican lawmakers' approval and faces numerous other hurdles.

Despite the possible problems, four Michigan Democratic leaders uncommitted to any candidate plans to run the idea past the Obama and Clinton campaigns Thursday during separate talks. Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and Ron Gettelfinger are in that group.

A party-run mail-in election also could be on the table. But state Sens. Tupac Hunter and Buzz Thomas, Detroiters who support Obama, said Wednesday they don't want a mail-in election because they're worried about possible fraud or that some voters will be disenfranchised.

They suggested splitting Michigan's 128 pledged delegates equally between Clinton and Obama, while letting the 28 superdelegates vote any way they chose. Clinton doesn't like that idea. She called Wednesday for either seating the delegates based on the primary results or holding another election.

If the Democrats decide to ask the state to run the primary, it wouldn't be paid for with public funds. The money would come from private Democratic donations, possibly through the state Democratic Party, which then would give the money to the state. But lawmakers would need to appropriate the money.

It is not immediately known how much a second primary election would cost.

Dingell was making calls Wednesday to legislative leaders and the secretary of state's office, which oversees elections.

But secretary of state spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said her office is not yet involved in any discussions.

"We have not received any indication that the Legislature would be interested in the state conducting another presidential primary," she said.

The state already has an election scheduled for May 6, but it's mostly for lightly attended school elections. Some of the more than 5,000 polling places in the state weren't even going to be opened.

All those polling sites likely will be needed if a Democratic primary is held, however. And then there's the question of printing the ballots. The primary would have to be on a separate ballot from any other elections, such as one to elect school board members, and time is running short to print ballots.

Then there's the issue of who would be allowed to vote in the primary. The Michigan Democratic and Republican parties will learn in two weeks if a federal judge will allow the secretary of state's office to give them lists of who voted in the January primary and which ballot — Democratic or Republican — they took.

Those lists would be used to keep anyone who voted in the Jan. 15 Republican primary — even if they were a Democrat or independent — from voting in the do-over Democratic election.

That could anger banned voters, especially since many voted in the GOP election because Clinton was the only major candidate on the Democratic ballot, making that race largely a beauty contest.

It's possible the Legislature could push the election date back to early June, but the contest must be held by June 10 for the results to count under DNC rules. Any bill moving the election to a different date would have to pass the Democrat-controlled House and the GOP-controlled Senate.

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EDITOR's NOTE: Kathy Barks Hoffman heads the Lansing AP bureau and has covered Michigan politics since 1986.

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On the Net:

Michigan Democratic Party: http://www.michigandems.com