Michigan House Passes Proof of Citizenship Voting Bill in Controversial Party-Line Vote

Republican Michigan House Votes to Require Citizenship Proof for Voter Registration

LANSING, MI – The Republican-controlled Michigan House voted Tuesday to approve legislation that would require individuals registering to vote to first show proof of citizenship. The bill was approved mostly along party lines by a vote of 58-46.

House Bill 4765, sponsored by Rep. Jason Woolford of Howell, would amend Michigan election law to require the secretary of state verify the citizenship status of an individual when they apply to register to vote.

Verification would be possible through databases maintained by the Michigan Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But to expedite the verification process, applicants could also provide their own satisfactory evidence, according to the bill as substituted.

Acceptable Documents for Citizenship Verification

Applicants could provide several forms of documentation to prove citizenship:

• Driver licenses or ID cards with citizenship verification, like enhanced IDs
• Birth certificates verifying U.S. citizenship, which could be accompanied by a marriage license or other documentation showing a name change
• U.S. passports
• Naturalization documents or the number of a certificate of naturalization
• A certificate of citizenship
• An American Indian card issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with the classification KIC
• Bureau of Indian Affairs card numbers, Indian census numbers, tribal treaty card numbers or tribal enrollment numbers
• A certification of report of birth or consular report of birth abroad

Applicants would not be registered electors until their citizenship is verified. Those whose citizenship status could not be verified would have to be designated in the qualified voter file as a federal-only voter. They would be ineligible to vote in state or local elections.

Republicans Say It Protects Election Integrity

Citizenship is already a legal requirement for voting in Michigan. But Woolford said the bill would rebuild Michiganders trust in state and local elections while limiting documented instances where noncitizens ended up in the qualified voter file.

In 2024, a Chinese student voted illegally in a state election, resulting in criminal charges before the individual fled the country. It is important to remember that every improper ballot cancels out the lawful vote of a Michigan citizen, Woolford said. It is about basic fairness.

This is not a red issue. It is not a blue issue, Woolford added. It truly is a red, white and blue issue.

Democrats Warn of Disenfranchisement

Democrats responded that instances of noncitizen voting are rare, and the provisions in the bill could disenfranchise more legal voters than they would likely catch instances of illegal voting.

State Rep. Sharon MacDonell of Troy described the legislation as nothing more than a poll tax in sheep s clothing.

Rep. Stephen Wooden of Grand Rapids said it is estimated that 9 percent of U.S. citizens do not have a passport, birth certificate or other documented proof of citizenship at home. While many may be able to obtain these documents ahead of an election, other citizens will not, he said, pointing to a proof of citizenship law in Kansas that was struck down in 2018 after a court found around 31,000 eligible voters had been blocked.

Those who could struggle to meet documentation requirements include adopted individuals, children in foster care, individuals with disabilities and newlyweds who have legally changed their last name, MacDonell said.

Cost Concerns and Administrative Burden

Rep. Morgan Foreman of Ann Arbor said obtaining the necessary documents could also be an extra expense for individuals. This bill would create a financial barrier for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote by requiring people to update their licenses, get passports and update birth certificates if their name has changed, she said. Updating these documents is not cheap, and it takes time that a lot of working folks dont have.

Wooden estimated it would cost Michiganders up to $150 million in total new fees if everyone in the state wants to upgrade their driver licenses or state-issued IDs for voting. Not at a time when Michiganders are struggling to make ends meet, he said. This bill seeks to saddle people with new fees for an issue that is so astonishingly rare, it is virtually nonexistent.

According to House Fiscal analysis, the bill would increase revenue to the Department of State and Department of Health and Human Services, due to an anticipated influx of service fees paid for birth certificates and enhanced driver licenses. Enhanced driver licenses come with a fee of $45, and ID cards cost $30. Both can be used in place of a U.S. passport. With a 20 percent increase in annual transactions, DOS would receive around $5.3 million in additional revenue, deposited in a state-restricted fund and used to cover the department s administration and enforcement expenses.

The bill would also result in added costs for both the state and county, township and city clerks offices. It would add administrative responsibilities for the state Bureau of Elections, resulting in higher costs and potential need for more staff. House Fiscal analysis also referenced the potential for the state to incur legal costs necessary to defend the bill against lawsuits, with some states enacting similar proof of citizenship requirements subject to litigation. Legal costs for Arizona and Kansas to defend their proof of citizenship laws have been over $2 million each, the analysis reads.

Michigan League for Public Policy Says Bill Threatens Democratic Participation

Michigan League for Public Policy President and CEO Monique Stanton criticized the passage of the bill. On the surface, this bill may look like it is about voter identification and preventing so-called voter fraud, but it is really about trying to make it more difficult for eligible citizens to exercise their right to vote in state elections, she said.

If this bill were to become law, voters who used to be able to use their standard driver s license or state ID to vote will be required to obtain an enhanced driver s license or present other accompanying documents, like their birth certificate or passport, in order to complete their voter registration process, Stanton explained.

The Michigan Department of State conducted an extensive review of voter identification last year and came back with 15 flagged cases of potential noncitizen voters out of a total of 5.7 million ballots cast. This shows that the systems the state has in place to prevent voter fraud are already working, Stanton said.

Stanton added that the bill could levy a burden for voters who do not already have qualifying identification. New IDs cost money, and for residents who have changed their name, such as married women, they may not have the necessary documents to get those types of identification. For those reasons, as well as a potential burden on local election administrators and clerks, Stanton called the bill nothing short of a dire threat to democratic participation.

Bill Advances to Democrat-Controlled Senate

The bill will now advance to the Democrat-controlled Senate, through which it is unlikely to pass. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has said there is no evidence to support claims that large numbers of noncitizens have voted in past elections or are currently registering to vote.

Woolford emphasized the need for the legislation, saying Michiganders deserve to have their voices respected. Unfortunately, without requiring identification, we have been threatening the sanctity of our voting process, Woolford said. The people of Michigan deserve better, and today we delivered.

The legislation parallels a federal SAVE Act, requiring proof of United States citizenship when registering to vote and identification when voting. It also mimics a citizen-only ballot measure that turned in signatures last month to make the November 2026 ballot.

An identification requirement should be the bare minimum, Woolford said. Michiganders deserve to have their voices respected. We need to do everything in our power to ensure our elections are free from foreign interference.