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Michigan's November Ballot Has Two Competing Visions for Voting Rights

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2 competing measures on Michigan’s November ballot. One expands voting access. The other restricts it. The outcome decides the rules for 8.4 million registered voters.

Two Visions, One Ballot

Michigan’s split legislature has produced two competing election proposals heading toward the November 3 ballot.

Democrats in the state Senate introduced the Michigan Voting Rights Act, a state-level version of the federal VRA designed to fill the gap left by the Supreme Court’s rulings in Shelby County and Louisiana v. Callais. The bills would require voting materials in multiple languages, expand assistance for voters with disabilities, and create a nonpartisan state voter institute for election management.

Republicans in the House passed HB 4765, requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Birth certificate, passport, or naturalization documents must be verified before registration is processed.

A separate ballot initiative backed by Americans for Citizen Voting collected enough signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot requiring that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections.

What Each Proposal Does

Michigan Voting Rights Act (D)Proof of Citizenship (R)
ExpandsMultilingual voting materials, disability access, election data transparencyNothing
RestrictsNothingRegistration requires birth certificate, passport, or naturalization papers
AddressesSupreme Court erosion of federal VRA protectionsNoncitizen voting (which is already illegal and occurs at near-zero rates)
AffectsAll voters, especially non-English speakers and voters with disabilitiesVoters who lack documents, disproportionately low-income, elderly, and voters of color

Why This Matters

Michigan has two open statewide races in 2026: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited, and Sen. Gary Peters is not running again. Full legislative control is also on the ballot. Voting rules set this year will govern all of it.

The proof-of-citizenship requirement mirrors the federal SAVE Act that passed the U.S. House. If both the state and federal versions pass, Michigan voters without a passport or birth certificate on hand would face barriers at both levels.

What you can do

  1. Check your registration at vote.org. Michigan’s general election is November 3.
  2. Know what’s on your ballot. The citizenship amendment will appear alongside candidate races.
  3. Tell your state senator to support the Michigan Voting Rights Act. The bill fills gaps left by Supreme Court rulings and expands access for non-English speakers and voters with disabilities. Find your legislator at legislature.mi.gov.

Update, October 14, 2026: An earlier version of this brief called Michigan a toss-up state. Resist Now does not publish election forecasts, so that label was removed. The nominees are now set: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) faces U.S. Rep. John James (R) for governor (Ballotpedia), and Abdul El-Sayed (D) faces former Rep. Mike Rogers (R) for the open Senate seat (Ballotpedia).

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