UPDATE: September 3, 2026 at 10:30pm EST.
The question is now settled for the November election.
The Michigan Supreme Court has denied ACVM’s request to overturn the Board of State Canvassers’ decision and order the proposal onto the ballot.
The ACVM constitutional amendment will not appear on Michigan’s November 3 ballot.
Original post
The article below reflects what was known before the Michigan Supreme Court issued its September 3 decision. It explains the earlier Board of State Canvassers deadlock, ACVM’s court challenge, and why the proposal’s ballot status was still unresolved at that time.
The meeting lasted nearly seven hours as Board members reviewed disputed petition signatures one by one and considered arguments from both the campaign supporting the proposal and Promote The Vote Action, which challenged signatures.
At the end of the meeting, the four-member Board split 2-2 on whether to certify the proposal. Without the majority needed for certification, the proposal was not certified for the November ballot.
Since the August 24 meeting, Americans for Citizen Voting-Michigan has challenged the decision in court.
Kavanaugh’s denial did not decide whether ACVM was right or wrong about the disputed petition signatures. ACVM’s separate case before the Michigan Supreme Court remains pending.
How did we get here?
Americans for Citizen Voting-Michigan submitted 709,841 petition signatures in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and make other changes to Michigan’s voting and identification rules.
To qualify for the November ballot, the campaign needed at least 446,198 valid signatures.
Michigan uses an approved random-sampling process rather than reviewing every signature individually. For this petition, 1,000 signatures were selected for review. At least 629 of those 1,000 needed to be valid for the sample to show that the petition met the statewide requirement.
Before the August 24 meeting, Michigan’s nonpartisan Bureau of Elections reviewed the sample, considered challenges and responses, and determined that 612 signatures were valid. Bureau staff recommended that the petition not be certified.
What happened at the August 24 meeting?
The Board of State Canvassers is made up of four members, two Republicans and two Democrats.
On August 24, Board members spent hours reviewing individual disputed signatures. They examined issues such as whether signatures matched the voter file, whether dates and addresses were valid, whether supporting information had been submitted by required deadlines, and whether additional evidence could be considered.
Some decisions had bipartisan agreement. Others resulted in 2-2 votes.
By the end of the review, 626 sampled signatures had been accepted as valid, three short of the 629 needed for certification. The Board had not reached agreement on a decisive number of other disputed signatures.
Because at least three votes are needed for the Board to act, the petition was not certified for the November ballot.
What does the proposal do?
If the ACVM amendment ultimately reaches the ballot and is approved by voters, it would change Michigan’s voter registration and identification requirements.
Among other changes, the proposal would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. A regular Michigan driver’s license or state ID, including a standard REAL ID, does not by itself prove U.S. citizenship and would not satisfy that requirement.
The proposal would also make changes affecting voters who cannot show photo identification when voting. Michigan currently allows a voter without acceptable photo ID to sign an affidavit confirming their identity and cast a regular ballot. The proposal would eliminate that option and create different requirements.
VAAC and other voting rights organizations have raised concerns about how these changes could affect eligible voters who do not readily have access to citizenship documents.
The concern is not about whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote. They already cannot legally vote in Michigan elections. The concern is that requiring additional citizenship documents could create a new barrier for eligible U.S. citizens who are already registered or otherwise qualified to vote but may not have easy access to a passport, birth certificate, naturalization document, or other qualifying paperwork.
ACVM took the dispute to court
ACVM filed a case with the Michigan Supreme Court on August 27, arguing that the Board’s signature-review process was flawed and that additional evidence related to disputed signatures should have been considered.
On August 31, ACVM also filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for an order requiring Michigan officials to place the proposal on the November ballot.
Why did Justice Kavanaugh handle the request?
Emergency applications to the U.S. Supreme Court are initially directed to the justice assigned to the federal judicial circuit where the case comes from. Michigan is part of the Sixth Circuit, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh is the Supreme Court justice currently assigned to that circuit.
That is why ACVM’s emergency application went to Kavanaugh. It was part of the Supreme Court’s normal procedure for emergency applications, not a special assignment made for this case.
As the Circuit Justice, Kavanaugh could act on the request himself or refer it to the full Supreme Court.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh requested a response from Michigan officials, which was filed on September 2.
En September 3, Kavanaugh denied ACVM’s emergency application. The denial was posted on the Supreme Court docket without a written opinion. Kavanaugh did not refer the request to the full Court.
That means ACVM did not receive the emergency order from the U.S. Supreme Court that it sought before Michigan’s September 4 ballot-finalization deadline.
As of September 3, the proposal has still not been certified for the November ballot.
ACVM’s separate case in the Michigan Supreme Court has also been moving on an extremely short timeline as Michigan prepares to finalize the November ballot. VAAC will continue following any final state court action and the Board of State Canvassers meeting scheduled for September 4.
We will keep you updated
For now, the key point remains: the ACVM proposal has not been certified for Michigan’s November ballot.
ACVM did not receive the emergency relief it sought from the U.S. Supreme Court, but its case before the Michigan Supreme Court remains pending.
Michigan’s ballot is scheduled to be finalized on September 4. VAAC will continue following the state court proceedings and share any final decision about whether the proposal will appear before voters in November.
Updated: September 3, 2026, 8:00pm EST.
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