Michigan citizens-only voting proposal will not appear on November ballot

An effort in Michigan this year to require voters to prove their citizenship has failed, following the state Supreme Court's decision late Thursday not to put the proposed state constitutional amendment on the November ballot. 

The court denied the request by the group Americans for Citizen Voting to order a state board to certify its effort for the ballot. In addition, the group's last-ditch appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected earlier in the day. Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied the petition’s request without explanation.

Friday was the day Michigan’s ballot was finalized by the state Board of State Canvassers.

The U.S. Supreme Court denial came after Kavenaugh heard from the plaintiffs and the defendants: The Michigan Board of State Canvassers, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Director of Elections Jonathan Brater.

“We are deeply disappointed by today’s decision, particularly for the nearly 710,000 Michigan citizens who put their names on this petition believing they would have an opportunity to vote on it,” said Americans for Citizen Voting spokesperson Kristin Combs. 

“We fought until the very last possible moment because those people deserved to have their voices heard. We are enormously grateful to every signer, volunteer, donor and supporter who stood with us throughout this fight.”

Last week, the state board of canvassers had two votes that ended in ties related to the group's ballot initiative. Each were along party lines – with Republicans supporting the proposal and Democrats opposing it. 

That deadlock prevented the petition from appearing on the ballot without legal action.

As part of the process, board members did not agree that the group had enough valid signatures.

The ballot initiative would have added language to Michigan’s Constitution stating that only U.S. citizens can vote, required a regular review of the voter rolls, and required photo identification for voters.

Groups submitted more than 700,000 signatures to the state in March, far more than the 446,198 valid signatures required to get on the ballot. To approve the initiative for the ballot, the state Bureau of Elections considered a sample of 1,000 of the signatures.

Of those 1,000, 629 needed to be proven valid for the initiative to move forward. The Bureau of Elections found only 612 of the 1,000 valid. A similar review by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers found 626 of 1,000 to be valid, meaning it was short three votes.

The bureau recommended the board deem the submitted signatures insufficient.

The initiative had until Sept. 2 to file an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court. It did that last week, but decided to go to the U.S. Supreme Court after no action from the state court.

“The Michigan supremes sat on it,” a spokesperson for the initiative told supporters last week. “Outrageous. So we felt we had no chance.”

In previous disputes, Michigan ballot proposals had successfully sought relief from the state Supreme Court. This was the first initiative in recent state history to take its urgent ballot-access fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Absentee ballots in Michigan begin to go out in 20 days.