Michigan citizenship group asks US Supreme Court to rescue ballot bid

Max Reinhart, The Detroit News on Aug 31, 2026

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DETROIT — A group seeking to require that Michigan voters prove they are citizens before casting their ballots has taken its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Americans for Citizen Voting filed an application with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh on Monday, asking the federal court to swiftly order that Michigan place their proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

The group needs the High Court to issue an injunction by Sept. 3, it argued in Monday's filing, because by Sept. 4, Michigan must have its ballot for the Nov. 3 general election settled.

The Michigan Board of Canvassers voted 2-2 on Aug. 24 in determining whether the group had collected enough valid signatures for the issue to move forward. The deadlock kept the measure from advancing.

Last week, Americans for Citizen Voting asked the Michigan Supreme Court to overrule the canvassers. The group is now going to the U.S. Supreme Court because they don't expect the state to act on the request in time to get the issue on the ballot.

"… As of this filing, that court has done nothing — not even to request a response from Respondents," the group stated in its filing to Kavanaugh.

In its filing, the group is asking the federal court for an emergency injunction ordering the state "to place the petition on the ballot and restore the voices of the voters."

Per court rules, if the application is acceptable, Kavanaugh may act on it himself, refer it to the full court or seek a response from the respondents, which include the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and director of elections Jonathan Brater.

During the canvassers' Aug. 24 meeting, the two Republicans on the board voted to advance the proposal while the two Democrats voted against certification. The stalemate meant the issue would not advance.

The group needed 446,198 signatures to advance the measure and said it collected more than 700,000. But a review of a 1,000-signature sample found that Americans for Citizen Voting fell a handful of signatures short of the neccessary threshold.

Much of the debate at the Aug. 24 canvassing board meeting focused on five signatures that were deemed invalid. Supporters of the ballot proposal turned in affidavits from the people behind the signatures, saying they had signed the petition and were qualified to do so, but they were turned in after the deadline for challenges.

The group has also complained that its signatures were submitted March 4, but the Bureau of Elections did not issue its staff report until Aug. 17, more than five months later.

"If Respondents’ decision to keep ACVM’s Petition off the ballot stands, then Michigan voters will never have a chance to vote on the petition, regardless of whether it should or should not have been placed on the ballot," the application to Kavanaugh states.

The constitutional amendment would require photo ID to vote and eliminate the option for a voter to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity in place of a photo ID. The amendment also would establish a state-funded hardship program that would be available to those unable to pay for a photo ID.

State and federal law already requires that all voters must be U.S. citizens. Voters usually prove as much when they sign an affidavit at the time of registration attesting they are citizens.

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