Republicans keep trying to chip away at Michiganders’ voting rights

Michigan Republicans want the US Supreme Court to throw out state election laws that make it easier to vote—and put up new obstacles to casting a ballot on Election Day. 

MICHIGAN—Republican state lawmakers are asking the nation’s highest court to greenlight a lawsuit that challenges voter-approved state election laws—including those that allow for same-day voter registration, as well as early voting and no-reason absentee voting.

Those election laws, which also created an independent commission to redraw legislative and congressional district boundaries, are the result of ballot proposals that were approved by a majority of Michigan voters in 2018 and 2022. But Republican lawmakers want them overturned.

And Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is already vowing to defend Michiganders’ voting rights from what she described as “anti-democratic” motives among Republican state lawmakers.

In a statement, she said voters have a right to enact laws that reflect their values and that politicians have “a duty to stand by the will of the voters” after they pass ballot initiatives.

“The idea that the time, place and manner of federal elections law-making is beyond the right of voters to self-determine is anti-democratic,” Benson said in a statement. “I will always defend Michigan voters’ rights to amend our [state] Constitution through ballot initiatives—even and especially when we are called to defend those rights before the US Supreme Court.”

Here’s the Deal: 

The renewed effort to challenge recent voter-approved changes to the state Constitution is being pursued by several Republican members of the state Legislature—and it has already been tossed out of lower courts since they first filed suit in 2023, Michigan Advance reports.

The laws being challenged include voter-approved initiatives that established the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, as well those that cemented the constitutional right for eligible voters to cast no-reason absentee ballots and register to vote on Election Day—both of which were approved by a firm majority vote at the polls in 2018 and 2022. 

Among those leading the charge to quash those voting rights: Republican state Sens. Jonathan Lindsey and James Runestad, as well as Republican state Reps. Steve Carra, James DeSana, Joseph Fox, Matt Maddock, Brad Paquette, Angela Rigas, Josh Schriver, and Rachelle Smit.

Even though a vast majority of Michiganders approved multiple statewide ballot initiatives that cemented clear voting rights into the state Constitution in both 2018 and 2022, Republicans argue those changes run afoul of the Elections Clause of the US Constitution, which specifically empowers state legislatures to prescribe the “times, places, and manner of holding elections.”

Their argument has been repeatedly rejected and dismissed by lower courts. 

Still, many of the lawmakers involved in the legal battle have reportedly been vocal supporters of President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” and have sounded alarm bells about possible future fraud under the new voting rules, reports Michigan Advance.

If successful, the lawsuit threatens to strip Michiganders of several basic rights that are now embedded in the state Constitution—all of which make it easier for voters to cast a ballot. 

Other ‘Extreme’ Proposals

A separate proposal advancing in the Republican-led state House of Representatives seeks to amend the state Constitution to mandate new citizenship verification processes and stricter ID requirements—changes that Benson and several voting rights groups have warned could actually block thousands of legal voters in Michigan from casting their ballots on Election Day.

House Joint Resolution B—which was introduced in late January by state Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford)—is headed for a vote on the House floor. It isn’t likely to pass the divided state Legislature with required two-third support. But conservative lawmakers are already gearing up for a petition drive to put the issue before voters on the 2026 ballot.

“The politicians pushing this plan are taking something we all believe and know is true—that only US citizens should vote in our elections—and using that as cover to gut Michiganders’ voting rights in our state Constitution,” Benson said in a recent statement. “We need to hold the line on protecting every eligible citizen’s constitutional right to cast a ballot in every election.”

The Republican-led proposal calls for new legal requirements that would force all Michiganders voters to provide physical documentation to prove their US citizenship (like a passport or birth certificate) when registering to vote or requesting an absentee ballot ahead of Election Day.  

Republicans contend that changes are necessary to ensure only US citizens are voting and to prevent election fraud, despite a lack of evidence of widespread voting irregularities in Michigan.

But Benson warns that rather than improving election security, the proposed restrictions would only make it more difficult for thousands of eligible US citizens—especially seniors, low-income voters, and those living in rural communities—to exercise their fundamental right to vote.

In a statement, she urged state lawmakers to trash the plan and “get back to the business of working together on honest proposals to keep elections safe, secure, and accessible.”

“This is a failed policy that has already been tried in other states. In those states, it has either been overturned by the courts for being blatantly unconstitutional, created a separate and unequal system of voting access for citizens, or blocked tens of thousands of eligible voters from casting their legal ballot in an election,” Benson said. “I stand with the people of Michigan who have overwhelmingly passed ballot measures to make voting more accessible.”

‘More of the Same’

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order that aims to overhaul elections across the US—including by requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, as well as demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day.

The move, which is likely to face swift challenges because states have broad authority to set their own election rules, is consistent with Trump’s long history of railing against election processes. He often claims elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 presidential election.

And in Michigan, the order is already facing stiff opposition among voting rights groups—with nearly two dozen groups, including the ACLU of Michigan, the League of Women Voters, and Planned Parenthood of Michigan speaking out in a joint statement late Wednesday afternoon.

“Our history is full of efforts by lawmakers to make voting more difficult,” the statement reads. “This is just more of the same, amounting to little more than a 21st Century poll tax. These extreme proposals will do nothing but unnecessarily burden voters—especially voters with disabilities, rural voters, elderly voters, and voters of color—and roll back the progress we’ve made. Every voter has the right to make their voice heard and we will fight to keep it that way.”

Sophia Lin Lakin, the director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, also called parts of Trump’s order “a blatant overreach that threatens to disenfranchise tens of millions of eligible voters.”

“A president does not set election law and never will,” said Quentin Turner, president of Common Cause Michigan, an advocacy group that supports voting rights. “Trump’s executive action is just another transparent attempt to enact baseless voter suppression here in Michigan. Whether it is the block the ballot resolution Michigan Republicans are advancing or this executive order, voter suppression is unwelcome in Michigan, and we will fight it tooth and nail.”

The order’s documentary proof of citizenship requirement signals that the Trump administration is not waiting for congressional Republicans to pass their long-anticipated Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which would amend federal law to do the same things.

Republicans have defended that measure as necessary to restore public confidence in elections. But voting in federal elections by noncitizens is already illegal and can result in felony charges and deportation. And similar to the proposed legislation in Michigan, voting rights groups have expressed concerns that new voting requirements could disenfranchise people.

“If the election-denier-in-chief tries to interfere with any citizen’s right to vote, with this or any other action, we’ll see him in court,” Benson said this week in response to Trump’s new order.

Complicating Trump’s plans, the US Constitution also does not mention any role for the president or the executive branch in regulating the time, place, or manner of elections. And voting rights advocates have already begun to make similar arguments against Trump’s order.

Given the nation’s long history of decentralized, state-run elections, any attempt to change state election laws by executive order is almost certain to face challenges in court. Marc Elias, a leading Democratic election and voting rights attorney, promised exactly that on Wednesday.

“Moments ago, Donald Trump signed a massive voter suppression executive order,” he said in a social media post. “This will not stand. We will sue.”

Ultimately, the courts will decide how far Trump can go in overhauling election procedures.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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