• Americans for Citizen Voting–Michigan does not have the signatures needed to make the November ballot, state officials said Monday
  • Proposal would require citizenship verification for all voters, mandate removing noncitizens from voting rolls after 45-day window
  • If the Board of State Canvassers agrees with the state’s findings, voters will have just two statewide questions on their November ballot

LANSING — A group aiming to require proof of citizenship and toughen Michigan voter ID rules does not have enough signatures to make the November ballot, according to the Bureau of Elections.

Americans for Citizen Voting–Michigan turned in more than 709,800 signatures on March 4, well beyond the 446,198 signatures needed to qualify for ballot access. 

But in a staff report released Monday, the state Bureau of Elections estimated that only 434,423 of the submitted signatures were valid, almost 12,000 fewer than the 446,198 required to make the ballot. 

Those findings are not the final say. The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers will decide ballot access later this month. 

Related: 

“The fight continues,” said Kristin Combs, a spokesperson for Americans for Citizen Voting–Michigan.

“We are reviewing the information provided by the Bureau and plan to respond to them as soon as possible,” she said in a statement. “More than 700,000 Michiganders signed our petition. They deserve a vote.”

Attorney Bob LaBrant, who had challenged the group’s signatures for Promote the Vote Action, called it “a very, very sloppy petition drive for a group that had all sorts of financial resources.

“They didn’t appear to have much in quality control,” LaBrant said of the group’s signatures.

Bureau of Elections staff declared many of the petition signatures ineligible because the signer not being registered to vote in the city or township they indicated on the petition sheet. Others were removed from consideration, mostly due to being duplicates.

The bureau arrived at its conclusion by reviewing a sample of 1,000 signatures. After an initial review and outside challenges, staff determined 612 were valid, below the 629-signature threshold needed to recommend that canvassers certify the petitions for the ballot. 

The proposal would require verification of citizenship for all voters while mandating the removal of noncitizens from voting rolls after a 45-day response window. 

It would also tighten voter ID rules by eliminating an option for voters without an ID to cast a ballot by submitting an affidavit of identity. 

The measure would task lawmakers with figuring out a way to provide low-income Michiganders access to citizenship-proving documents at “no cost.” 

Failure to make the ballot would be a stunning blow for Americans for Citizen Voting–Michigan, which had raised more than $9 million for the effort through July 20, according to campaign finance disclosures. 

Much of that came from Restoration of America, a dark money group created by Illinois activist Doug Truax that aims to encourage American prosperity by “turning to God and the enforcement of just laws.”

Michigan’s bipartisan, four-member Board of State Canvassers is expected to consider the Americans for Citizen Voting–Michigan petitions at an Aug. 24 meeting. 

If canvassers agree with the bureau’s recommendation, the measure would not make the Nov. 3 general election ballot. 

That would leave Michiganders for Money Out of Politics — a group looking to ban political spending in state elections by Michigan’s regulated utilities and large government contractors — as the only petition initiative able to make the November ballot. 

Voters will also have the chance to decide whether they want to convene a constitutional convention to rewrite the state’s foundational document. That question is constitutionally obligated to appear on the ballot once every 16 years, meaning its position has never been in jeopardy. 

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com