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.
https://www.themidwesterner.news/2026/08/democrat-canvassers-vote-to-keep-citizens-only-voting-initiative-off-november-ballot/