A ballot question aimed at ensuring only U.S. citizens are voting in Michigan elections inched a step closer to gathering signatures Friday.
The measure would amend Michigan’s constitution to require residents to show proof of citizenship when signing up to vote. Currently, residents must check a box attesting to their citizenship while applying.
The amendment would also have the Michigan Secretary of State go through the voter rolls and ensure everyone listed is a citizen. Beyond that, it would get rid of a way for people without photo IDs to vote by signing a legal document at the polls.
A state elections board verified that the petition form and summary language were in order Friday. Lawyer Charlie Spies represented the Protect Voters’ Rights campaign at Friday’s Board of State Canvassers meeting.
“It’s a commonsense proposal to add two things. One is photo ID, and the second is verification of citizenship. That is core to the voting rules of America,” Spies said after the meeting.
Despite current laws already requiring people to provide proof of residency documents when signing up to vote and to affirm their citizenship under penalty of perjury, state officials say over a dozen non-citizens may have voted last year.
Officials said that's about three ten-thousandths of a percentage point in the state's presidential election and that they’re conducting thorough reviews more often now to catch any others before they vote.
During the drawn-out meeting on Friday, however, opponents of the measure voiced their concerns.
Attorney Mark Brewer represents a group organizing against the proposed constitutional amendment. He said the summary language needed to say that the change would create new requirements for voters.
“New qualifications to the vote would be imposed. Undefined documentary proof of citizenship, photo ID, etc. Which will result in citizens of Michigan who are eligible to vote and eligible to register being denied those rights,” Brewer said during public comment.
Supporters of the campaign denied that it would create any undue burdens for voters. They pointed to language within it that would help people without photo IDs or other means of proving their citizenship pay for one with state money.
The final summary language approved by the canvassing board Friday included wording that the amendment would add a “requirement to verify citizenship by showing a birth certificate, passport, and/or other documents for voter registration.”
Other critics of the amendment, including some members of the bipartisan canvassing board, feared it could prevent people from registering online or easily getting an absentee ballot.
Strategist Fred Wszolek, who is also working on the ballot campaign, dismissed those concerns. He said the solution could be as simple as having people upload copies of their documents.
“This is easy to do. But what we shouldn't do is, we shouldn't put all that in a whole 6,000-word amendment that goes into the constitution. Leave the details to the Legislature. They're in the sausage-making business. The constitution is about bigger ideas,” Wszolek told reporters.
Meanwhile, board member Mary Ellen Gurewitz said she worried about what would happen if people can’t quickly access things like birth certificates or passports, or if the secretary of state isn’t able to quickly use federal resources to check the citizenship of existing voters.
“I'm really troubled by the idea that people who have perhaps been voting for decades are going to find that the secretary of state perhaps has failed in his or her obligation and therefore the person loses the right to vote,” Gurewitz said.
Overall, the state canvassers meeting drew dozens of attendees. The fight over amendment summary mattered for a couple key reasons.
For one, the summary language is what voters will see when they decide whether to sign the petition. But also, having that board-approved summary helps shield the petition from future lawsuits that could claim its wording or form were misleading.
On the topic of signature gathering, Wszolek said he imagines the campaign to start canvassing once the weather becomes more consistently nice. He said signature collection will go much smoother this time than in 2022 when another voter ID campaign failed to make the ballot.
“We're getting a much earlier start, we're not competing with nine other constitutional amendments or legislative initiatives at the same time. We're not going to have a problem getting signatures,” Wszolek said.
This time, the campaign will need to gather over 100,000 more signatures than that previous effort because of high voter turn around and the decision to go for a constitutional amendment this time. To do so, Wszolek said he anticipates using a mix of paid and unpaid circulators.
While signatures aren’t the only way the amendment could make the ballot, they’re the most likely path.
Republican lawmakers are also trying to place the effort on the ballot through a resolution. But it’s unlikely there’s enough support in both the House and Senate to do that.
