Paul Egan / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Michigan's Secretary of State violates federal law through two methods it uses to purge names from its list of qualified voters, a federal judge in Detroit ruled Monday.

And U.S. District Judge Stephen J. Murphy ordered Michigan election officials to immediately halt and attempt to rectify one of the two practices -- canceling voter registrations for those whose voter identification card is returned as undeliverable.

Murphy ordered the state to remove the "rejected" marking in the qualified voter file for all persons whose original voter ID cards have been returned to the state as undeliverable since Jan. 1, 2006. About 1,500 people have been removed from the voter list in that manner this year, according to evidence presented in the case.

Murphy said a second Michigan practice -- immediately canceling the voter registration of those who apply for a driver's license in another state -- also violates the National Voting Rights Act.

But he did not grant a request from the plaintiffs -- the United States Student Association and the American Civil Liberties Union -- to grant an immediate injunction against the driver's license practice. The groups sued in September, arguing the state was potentially purging thousands of otherwise eligible voters through unlawful practices, a charge Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and her officials denied.

Murphy said only a tiny number of people who seek a driver's license in another state but still plan to vote in Michigan could be affected by the practice and the plaintiffs have not shown they represent anyone who has been harmed by the practice.

Still, he said the practice should be changed and ordered the Secretary of State to not destroy until Dec. 31, 2009, any records related to the cancellation of voter registrations made as a result of the practice.

Michael J. Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, hailed the ruling as "a victory for Michigan voters and the integrity of our democratic process."

"We're thrilled that thousands of voters who were illegally removed from the voter rolls will now be able to vote in November's historic presidential election."

Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for Land, said election officials were still reviewing the ruling Monday. She said restoring purged names to the voter file "will be very labor intensive," close to the time of the Nov. 4 vote.

"If they are successful in this lawsuit, it's conceivable that people could make up fake names and addresses and force election officials to put them on their voter rolls and keep them there for two federal elections," Chesney said.

Murphy said in his opinion that any burden his ruling puts on state election officials is largely self-imposed. The federal law is clear and the plaintiffs in the case voiced their concerns to Michigan election officials in July 2007, giving "a considerable period of time in which to consider how to smoothly implement the sorts of relief" required, he said.

"The public has an interest in both sides of this case," Murphy said in a 43-page opinion. "On the one hand, there is undoubtedly a strong public interest in ensuring that all eligible voters are able to cast their votes in an election. On the other hand, the public has a strong interest in the prevention of fraudulent voting."

In balancing the interests, Murphy found that "the harm from disenfranchisement is concrete and serious even if it occurs to only one individual, whereas the harms from fraudulent voting ... are more diffuse."

You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or pegan@detnews.com.