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Posted on 08/25/2026 8:24:29 AM PDT by DFG
Lansing—Democratic members of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted Monday against certifying the Americans for Citizen Voting initiative, leaving the proposed constitutional amendment to require proof of citizenship off the November ballot after a contentious debate.
The four-member board deadlocked 2-2, with Republican members Chair Richard Houskamp and Paul Cordes voting to certify the petition and Democratic members Vice Chair Mary Ellen Gurewitz and Heather Cummings voting against certification. Since the Board has four members in order to have a petition certified there must be at least three members who vote for it.
The initiative needed 629 valid signatures in the state’s random sample to receive a recommendation for certification. Bureau of Elections staff determined that 626 of the 1,000 signatures reviewed in the sample were valid, putting the petition below the required threshold.
Americans for Citizen Voting challenged the findings and submitted sworn affidavits from petition signers whose signatures had been rejected by election officials. Organizers argued the affidavits demonstrated that several signatures the state had deemed invalid were actually signed by registered voters.
The organization presented testimony from a notary who had notarized affidavits submitted by petition signers. The board reviewed 20 affidavits during the proceedings, with five becoming central to the final decision.
Houskamp argued the affidavits deserved special consideration because they came directly from voters who were willing to appear and attest that they had signed the petition.
“Those affidavits meant more than all the other signatures we were fighting for,” Houskamp told the media following the meeting. “Because those were you people, and you were stepping up to the plate.”
The Board of Canvassers has a rule that new evidence cannot be considered in their decision unless it was submitted 48-hours before the meeting, a rule the Democrat members cited as their reason to vote no.
“This was voters who had signed petitions, who were coming forward and saying, ‘You invalidated my signature. I’m coming forward to tell you that that really was my signature and that really was me on the petition,’” Houskamp said. “And so when it comes to the 48-hour rule, I think that’s different.”
The five disputed affidavits were the critical factor in the meeting. Had the affidavits been accepted, supporters argued the initiative would have reached 631 valid signatures in the sample, two above the 629-signature threshold.
The board ultimately remained deadlocked over the affidavits, with both Democratic members voting against certification.
Americans for Citizen Voting Chairman Paul Jacob sharply criticized the decision following the vote, arguing the board had rejected the testimony of voters who had personally sworn that they signed the petition.
“Even the two Democratic canvassers on the board … admitted that there are five people with sworn affidavits who are registered voters who signed our petition and we’re not getting credit,” Jacob told the media. “And how many are we short? Three. Do the math.”
Americans for Citizen Voting submitted 709,841 signatures in March, more than 260,000 above the statutory requirement of 446,198, according to the Michigan Fair Elections Institute.
The Bureau of Elections initially found 692 valid signatures in its 1,000-signature sample before challenges reduced the count to 612. The campaign subsequently sought to restore 149 challenged signatures, but election officials restored only 14.
The proposed constitutional amendment aims to require proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote, create a statewide citizenship verification system, and require the Michigan Secretary of State to vet voter rolls for noncitizens and report annually about those efforts to state lawmakers.
Jacobs told the media Americans for Citizen Voting will challenge Monday’s decision in court.
“The people of Michigan, 700,000 plus, signed this petition,” Jacob said. “People deserve a vote on this issue, and they’re going to get one,” he continued.
“I am more than frustrated. I am ready to continue to do battle because we’re not giving up,” Jacob said. “You can’t cheat the people of Michigan and get away with it.”
“We’re going to be back,” he added. “We’re going to go to every court we have to go to.”
The initiative is supported by Republican gubernatorial candidate John James, who signed the petition supporting the measure.
In a post on X on Monday, James blasted the Secretary of State office for blocking the initiative from the November ballot.
“She is using her office to fight voter ID and suppress the voices of 700,000 Michiganders who signed the petition to put Citizens Only Voting on the ballot this November,” James wrote.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who has campaigned against proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote on both the state and federal level, is overseeing her own election for governor as the Democratic nominee.
The Michigan Fair Elections Institute warned before the vote that the initiative was running out of time to qualify for the November ballot. Monday’s Board of State Canvassers meeting was the only scheduled opportunity for certification through the ordinary process, and the proposal faces a Sept. 4 deadline for final ballot-summary certification, according to the institute.
“Look, all we can do is have faith in God and do the right stuff,” Jacob said. “We’re going to go to that court and we’re going to hope that they do the right thing.”
Unless a court overturns the board’s decision, the Americans for Citizen Voting initiative will not appear on the Nov. 3 statewide ballot.
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I am getting a bit tired of having to pass new laws to ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS
Get two F-ing ropes.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE.
They’ll reflexively vote against anything that makes it harder to cheat.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS A COMMUNIST ENTERPRISE.
Sounds like that too.
Unbelievable. Five disputed affidavits kept the constitutional measure off the November ballot. Those Dems will stop at nothing to keep their fraud going.
You have to be pretty damn stupid to not know this election will be stolen.
Yup. The whole “we need to vote harder” idea drives me crazy. We have not succeeded in reforming the process and ensuring honest elections. The Democrats will simply manufacture however many votes they need, after the polls close. They will win where they choose to win. There isn’t anything the voters can do about that. But some do not see.
Anyone who thinks democrats are lucy-goosey about voter fraud will be shocked to see the commies in action...
The best decision of my young life was to leave that awful state.
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