# Michigan Citizenship Voting Amendment Officially Dead After State and Federal Supreme Courts Reject Ballot Bid
LANSING, MI -- A proposed constitutional amendment that would require Michiganders to prove U.S. citizenship when registering to vote has been effectively killed for the 2026 election cycle, after both the Michigan Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court denied the campaign's final legal challenges on Thursday.
The amendment, championed by Americans for Citizen Voting-Michigan (ACVM), would have required voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at voter registration. It would also have required voters to show photo ID either at the polls or within six days of an election for their ballot to be counted.
The Signature Dispute
The path to the ballot hinged on a signature count dispute. The campaign needed 446,198 valid petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot. After processing signature challenges and rebuttals, ACVM entered the Board of State Canvassers meeting last week just 17 signatures short of the threshold.
In a last-ditch effort to close the gap, the campaign presented 23 signed affidavits from voters as an attempt to rehabilitate rejected signatures. The board accepted 14 of those affidavits, bringing the campaign to within three signatures of the requirement. For the remaining affidavits, board members either agreed the signatures did not match voter records or deadlocked on how to proceed.
Five of those deadlocks between the board's two Democratic and two Republican members occurred because the affidavits were filed within 48 hours of the meeting, missing a deadline imposed by the board. Board members generally agreed those signatures would have counted had they been filed in time.
Michigan Supreme Court Ruling
All seven justices of the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the 48-hour filing deadline. In denying the campaign's request to overturn the Board of State Canvassers' decision, the court found it did not have the power to direct the board on how to handle the challenged process.
"MCL 168.476(1) does not mandate the Board to accept affidavits to rehabilitate rejected signatures, nor does it dictate the process of reviewing affidavits if the Board chooses to do so," Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote in a concurrence. "Plaintiffs argue that this process was deficient, but they do not argue that they were denied the process to which MCL 168.476 entitles them."
Only Justice Brian Zahra, the lone conservative on the court, argued that the board should go back and revisit four timely but rejected affidavits.
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Emergency Injunction
Hours after the Michigan Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Supreme Court closed the final door. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency filings for the circuit that includes Michigan, denied ACVM's request for an emergency injunction against the state canvassers' decision. The one-line docket entry offered no explanation for the denial.
The campaign had filed the emergency request with the federal court after the Michigan Supreme Court did not issue a decision by a deadline the campaign had requested by the prior Monday.
Campaign Reaction
ACVM chair Paul Jacob expressed frustration in a press release following the rulings.
"Nearly 710,000 Michiganders did exactly what their Constitution invited them to do: they signed a petition asking to put an issue before their fellow citizens," Jacob said. "When the Board of State Canvassers failed them, we turned to the Michigan Supreme Court expecting our state's highest court to diligently protect the constitutional rights of Michigan voters. Instead, the Court failed to act with the urgency this case demanded and ultimately denied relief."
ACVM spokesperson Kristin Combs added: "We are deeply disappointed by today's decision, particularly for the nearly 710,000 Michigan citizens who put their names on this petition believing they would have an opportunity to vote on it."
The question of whether that many Michiganders in fact signed the petition was central to the dispute. A randomly selected 1,000-signature sample analyzed by non-partisan Bureau of Elections staff turned up hundreds that state Elections Bureau staff said did not meet the requirements to count toward the petition's total.
What Comes Next
The statutory deadline to finalize the November ballot is Friday at 5 p.m. The Board of State Canvassers is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. but is not expected to reverse its decision.
The campaign says its work is not over. ACVM is now turning its attention to 2028, when it could attempt a new petition drive for the citizenship verification amendment.
The ruling comes at a pivotal moment in Michigan politics, with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor, set to face Republican opponent in a highly contested race. Michigan's ballots are set to begin going out on September 19. The state is also one of 25 states currently suing over a federal executive order meant to limit mail-in voting, adding another layer to the state's ongoing battles over election access.