- Prop 1 would launch a new convention to rewrite Michigan’s 63-year-old constitution
- A diverse coalition spent $3 million opposing the measure
- Voters have repeatedly rejected proposals to rewrite the constitution Michiganders adopted in 1963
The polls are closed across Michigan and early results show overwhelming opposition to a ballot proposal that would lead to a rewrite of the Michigan Constitution.
The proposal asking voters to convene a constitutional convention automatically appears on Michiganders’ ballots every 16 years and has not succeeded in more than six decades.
Michigan’s current constitution was adopted in 1963.
Voter Jerrilyn Mathews of Manton told Bridge Michigan she aims to keep it that way. She felt strongly about voting against the measure, she said.
“You open everything up, and whoever’s in power now gets to change everything,” Mathews said. “That’s not the way it should be.”
A diverse coalition including labor, business and issue advocacy groups has spent nearly $3 million urging voters to oppose the measure. They contend the lengthy process to revise Michigan’s constitution would waste money and give special interests a chance to radically alter the document, potentially overturning voter-approved provisions such as the 2022 amendment that enshrined abortion access.
“A Con-Con could create years of uncertainty and gridlock at a time when our state can least afford it,” Executive Vice President of Business Advocacy for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce Wendy Block said in a statement last month.
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There was little organized support for the proposal, although some influential Michiganders such as Republican state Sen. Ed McBroom urged a “yes” vote. They argued a convention could force conversations about issues that may have bipartisan voter support but get limited attention in Lansing. Among them: data centers and dark money in politics.
“There’s this unholy alliance of Lansing swamp creatures who are opposed to (a convention) — but normal Michiganders seem to support it,” Republican political consultant Dennis Lennox told Bridge Michigan in September.
If passed, Proposal 1 would trigger a lengthy process:
- First, Michigan’s political parties would hold primaries to nominate convention delegates.
- Next, Michigan would hold a general election by mid-2027 to select a delegate for each of Michigan’s 148 House and Senate districts.
- The Legislature would need to decide how much convention delegates are paid.
- Then, delegates would convene in Lansing by Oct. 5, 2027, triggering a constitutional review process with no set end date. They would appoint officers, hire staff, debate what to add or remove from Michigan’s constitution and eventually propose a rewrite for voters to consider.
- Within 90 days after the convention adjourned, Michigan voters would weigh another ballot proposal asking whether they want to adopt the convention’s proposed new constitution.
The nonpartisan state Senate Fiscal Agency estimated it would cost Michigan $80 million to hold a convention.
The last time voters considered the constitutional convention proposal, in 2010, 33% of voters supported the idea.
However, voters have repeatedly amended the constitution through ballot initiatives.
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