An Ingham County judge ruled Thursday against a petition attempting to outlaw preference practices based on race, gender, ethnicity and national origin.

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Paula Manderfield issued an opinion stating that the State Board of Canvassers shouldn't have approved the petition forms being circulated by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

The decision could hamper the efforts of the initiative's petitioners, who needed to collect more than 317,000 signatures from registered voters by July 6 in order to put the issue on the fall ballot.

In her decision, Manderfield said the board had breached its duty by approving a petition with wording that did not clearly state it would "alter or abrogate" the state constitution.

"To find otherwise would reduce the function of the State Board of Canvassers to a mere rubber stamp," she said in her written opinion.

A pro-affirmative action coalition filed a lawsuit against the board last month. The group claimed that the language of the petition was misleading to voters, and that it did not specify what part of the constitution it would amend.

Shanta Driver, an attorney who represented the pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, during the hearings, said the decision was a "tremendous" victory.

"If they have to tell the people of Michigan the truth, that their aim is to end civil rights and affirmative action in this state, then they lose," she said. "I think that we are very close to winning this fight and to protecting and defending civil rights in the state of Michigan."

But Driver said the decision doesn't mean the fight is over.

"We do think that there may be an appeal," she said.

But it might be too soon to determine the course of action, said attorney general spokesman Matt Davis.

"We're going to review the decision and consult with our client," Davis said. "A decision will be made about what to do."

The decision came less than a week after volunteers supporting the initiative drive were visited by Ward Connerly, a anti-racial preferences activist from California who is spearheading the campaign.

"I'm stunned that the judge would rule this way," said Tim O'Brien, campaign manager for the initiative. "It doesn't seem to make any kind of legal sense whatsoever."

O'Brien said he hoped the ruling would not influence the people who have supported the initiative so far.

"I've never heard of a court ruling a law or an initiative petition unconstitutional before it's been enacted," he said. "To the best of my knowledge, this is unprecedented."

Staff writer Elizabeth Piet contributed to this story.

Emily Bingham can be reached at binghame@msu.edu.