WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's half delegate has a new friend _ one of equal stature no less.

The Democrats Abroad, a group sanctioned by the national party, has confounded delegate counters, graphic artists and political journalists since it awarded Clinton 1.5 delegates from its global primary last week. How do you explain that Clinton has 1,276.5 delegates?

Explain no more. Clinton picked up a half superdelegate on Wednesday, increasing her overall total to 1,277.

The anomaly happened because the Democrats Abroad will send 22 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, each with a half vote. The system is designed to enable the group to send more people to the convention, without inflating its voting power.

The global primary, in which expatriates voted by mail, fax and the Internet, awarded nine delegates, with a total of 4.5 votes. Sen. Barack Obama won three delegate votes and Clinton won 1.5.

Democratic parties in U.S. territories use similar systems, in which they send twice the number of delegates, giving them each a half vote. But their systems are designed to ensure that that candidates do not end up with fractions of delegates.

The Democrats Abroad take it a step further. They also have twice the number of superdelegates _ eight _ and they each get a half vote. Superdelegates are elected and party officials who can vote for whomever they choose at the convention, regardless of the outcome of the primaries.

The Associated Press surveyed the Democrats Abroad superdelegates this week and found that four supported Obama and one supported Clinton. That's two votes for Obama, and a half vote for Clinton. The other three had not responded.

Clinton lost a superdelegate to Obama on Wednesday when Rep. John Lewis of Georgia became the fourth one to switch from Clinton to Obama. None have gone the other way, according to the AP tally.

But Clinton replaced Lewis with superdelegate Elizabeth Smith of Washington, who confirmed Wednesday that she will support the New York senator.

That gives Obama 1,375 delegates, to 1,277 for Clinton.

The breakdown:

Pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses: Obama, 1,187; Clinton, 1,035.5.

Superdelegates: Obama, 188; Clinton, 241.5.

It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the Democratic nomination.

Robert Bell, the new half superdelegate for Clinton who lives in Toronto, said he has no problem getting only half a vote at the convention.

"We're not discriminated against in any way," Bell said in a telephone interview.

Bell's endorsement of Clinton, however, is only a temporary solution to the half delegate issue. The Democrats Abroad are scheduled to hold their global convention April 12, when they will award their final 2.5 delegate votes.

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On the Net:

Democrats Abroad: http://www.demsabroad.org/