The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a federal lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee over the party's decision to strip Florida of its delegates to the national convention.

Florida voter Victor DiMaio filed suit in 2007 and accused the DNC of violating the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, specifically the Equal Protection Clause. DiMaio claimed that the DNC violated his constitutional rights when it punished Florida's Democrats for moving its primary to an earlier than allowed date.

In the decision released Friday, the 11th Circuit said DiMaio's case "raises a number of interesting and potentially significant questions concerning the impact of the Equal Protection Clause on an individual's right to vote in a primary election," but ultimately the three-judge panel agreed with a federal district judge in Tampa who ruled last fall that DiMaio lacked standing to bring the suit.

Still, the appeals court left the door open for DiMaio to amend his suit and carry on his challenge to the DNC decision.

The original district court judge dismissed the suit because DiMaio lacked standing, but also said the complaint was without merit even if DiMaio had standing.

The Appeals Court disagreed on that matter and ordered the district judge's decision to be changed.

The issue of standing resolves from the fact that when DiMaio filed the suit he had yet to actually vote in a Florida primary. Now that he has voted in the Jan. 29 contest, the appeals panel seems to give DiMaio an opportunity to amend his suit and try again.