WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Election Commission voted unanimously Thursday to allow Sen. Barack Obama to raise private funds for the 2008 presidential general election while keeping open the option of returning that money should he later decide to accept public funding.

Obama and two of his main rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, all plan to fund their campaigns solely from private contributions rather than accepting up to $105 million in public funds for both the primary and general election campaigns. Another Democratic hopeful, Sen. Chris Dodd, will not accept public funding during the primaries, but has not made a decision regarding the general election.

If Obama wins his party's nomination, he has expressed interest in accepting public funding for the general election, totaling roughly $84 million, if his GOP counterpart agrees to do the same. Obama asked the FEC earlier this month whether he would be permitted to do so upon returning any privately raised funds.

"Senator Obama is pleased the FEC took this important step in preserving the public financing system," said Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman. "Should the Republican nominee opt back into the public financing system, we will truly have an opportunity to slow the steady increase of special interest money into the political system."

In its opinion, the FEC said that the Illinois Democrat could raise private funds for the general election and later return it in favor of public money as long as the private contributions are kept untouched in a separate account and that all private contributions are fully refunded should he ultimately decide to receive public funding.

Though the ruling was specifically tailored to address Obama's inquiry, the decision could be applied to any presidential candidate in a similar situation.

"I appreciate Sen. Obama's ingenuity," said Ellen Weintraub, one of three Democrats on the six-member bipartisan panel. "It's a good policy result."

The commissioners voted 5-0 in support of the measure. One Republican member was not in attendance.

Several presidential candidates have opted out of the primary public funding program over the years, including both President Bush and John Kerry in 2004. No major party nominee has ever refused public funding for the general election since the program began in 1976 as part of a package of post-Watergate campaign finance reforms.

-- CNN Political Research Director Robert Yoon