A DNC panel meets Saturday, May 31 to decide the issue of how to count Florida and Michigan's primary votes.

DNC lawyers have said only half of the two state's delegates can be seated, but Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is counting on full delegations to give her an edge. She did well in both states with voters.

"There are some who wish that this election had ended months ago ? before you ever got a chance to vote," Clinton said during a speech in Montana. "I am not one of them. The longer this election has gone on, the better I have done."

According to Associated Press figures, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is just 44 delegates away from the nominating number of 2,026. Clinton is 246 votes shy of the nomination.

There's also a court battle brewing in Florida that aims to have all of that state's votes counted.

"I mean how can they remove Florida after all the things that Florida has suffered through ? hanging chads, through Bush vs. Gore and they're sticking it to us again," said political consultant Victor DiMaio.

The DNC is standing firm that Florida and Michigan broke party rules by moving up their primary dates. "You cannot violate the rules of the process and then expect to get forgiven for it," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean.