Attendees wait for Vice President Kamala Harris to speak in Detroit on October 19, 2024, the first day of early in-person voting. (Photo by Anna Liz Nichols).
This article was originally published by Votebeat , a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Michigan’s free newsletter here.
A new proposal from a top Michigan House Republican seeks to require voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering.
The proposal to amend the state constitution is unlikely to pass the Legislature with the required two-thirds vote, but conservatives are already planning a petition drive to put it on the 2026 ballot.
The proposed amendment is the latest in a growing movement in the United States to restrict noncitizen voting, despite the fact that there is little evidence that a significant number of noncitizens attempt to vote. Noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in elections under federal law, and the consequences are severe, including felony charges and loss of residency status.
However, federal law does not require proof of citizenship to register. The federal voter registration form only requests that voters self-attest to their eligibility and provide a Social Security or driver’s license number to verify identity.
Rep. Bryan Posthumus, a Republican from Rockford and the House majority floor leader, has introduced a House joint resolution that would require anyone registering to vote beginning December 18, 2026, to verify their citizenship status.
Voters who register without the required documentation may later present it to their local election officials or the secretary of state’s office. Those who have not confirmed their citizenship in time for the election must cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted only if their citizenship is verified within six days of the election.
However, the bill would do more than just register new voters. It would require the state to “use an ongoing systematic process” to continually confirm that the people on the qualified voter file — the state’s record of everyone registered to vote — are US citizens. This means retroactive verification for Michigan’s more than 8 million registered voters.
Those who are identified as noncitizens will be notified within a week and given 60 days to verify their citizenship or be removed from the rolls. According to the text of the joint amendment, citizenship can be verified using a state ID or the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number.
More than 40 other Republicans have signed on to it. The state must then “use all reasonable efforts” to verify citizenship, which may include contacting the federal government.
Arizona is the only state that requires proof of citizenship for voters. Because federal courts have consistently ruled that requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote violates federal law, Arizona has divided its voter rolls in two, resulting in a list of federal-only voters who have not provided proof of citizenship. These voters are barred from voting in local and state elections.
That federal-only list accounts for a small proportion of Arizona’s population, but a Votebeat analysis in December found that it disproportionately affected voters who live on college campuses, Native land, or in homeless shelters.
And it has caused headaches for voters and election officials, who have struggled to effectively enforce the legislation due to a slew of technical issues.
Proposal includes a stricter voter ID requirement.
The Michigan proposal would also require voters to verify their identity with a photo ID when casting their ballots. Current Michigan law requires voters to show identification, but if they do not have one, they can sign an affidavit proving their identity.
The ID section of the proposal is largely consistent with existing law regarding acceptable IDs, which include those issued by federal, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as educational institutions.
However, it includes an important addition: a new process for individuals to obtain a free ID for voting if they cannot afford other forms of identification. The most significant change, however, is that voters who cast a ballot without an ID will have up to six days after the election to present one so that their vote can be counted.
“What the constitutional amendment does is it builds in the guardrails that will make it so that a foreign national can no longer vote,” Posthumus told reporters Wednesday in Lansing, claiming that a flaw in the system allowed someone who was not a citizen to vote in 2024.
Requiring proof of citizenship to vote has become a central cause for Republicans across the country who have sought to raise awareness about the issue of noncitizen voting.
However, in Michigan, certain Republican leaders are particularly concerned with the case of a University of Michigan student from China who was charged with voting in Michigan’s November general election despite not being a citizen. The student, Haoxiang Gao, 19, is facing felony charges and is scheduled to appear in court again next month.
Experts point out that this single instance does not indicate widespread illegal voting, and that noncitizen voting is uncommon for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is that it poses a significant risk to the voter.
In 2017, more than 200 political scientists signed a letter challenging previous studies that suggested noncitizen voting fraud was possible, prompting the author of one of those original studies to retract it.
Michael Miller, an associate professor of political science at Barnard College and one of the letter’s authors, stated that there are very few noncitizens who would consider voting but would be discouraged by an effort like the one proposed. He believes it is more likely that citizens will be removed and struggle to re-enter the voting rolls.
“It’s a solution in search of a problem,” he told me. “You’re looking for a population that really doesn’t exist, but in the process, you are very likely to throw up hurdles that will stop citizens and otherwise qualified voters from casting their ballots.”
Opponents perceive a threat to eligible voters.
Noncitizens rarely register to vote. According to a 2024 review in Ohio, fewer than 600 of the state’s 8 million registered voters were not citizens. According to officials, 138 of those individuals may have voted within the previous year.
A similar 2024 review in Georgia discovered that 20 of the state’s more than 8.2 million registered voters are not US citizens. State officials said that only nine of the 20 had voted in previous elections.
There is no evidence that any of these individuals are involved in a large or coordinated effort to undermine elections. Despite this, many Republicans view such a scenario as a threat to election security in Michigan and elsewhere.
“We don’t need a lot of fraud to want to prevent it,” said Rep. Ann Bollin, a Republican from Brighton Township and former city clerk, to Votebeat earlier this month.
In addition to causing administrative headaches, such requirements have the potential to prevent eligible citizens from registering to vote. Kansas attempted to impose such a requirement in 2015, but more than 30,000 voter registrations were held up due to a failure to provide such documentation. A federal court eventually overturned the law.
“This is Scooby Doo-level villainy,” said Quentin Turner, the executive director of Common Cause Michigan. “What they’re attempting to do is under the guise of election security, but removing the mask reveals voter suppression, regardless of the regulations. This would make it difficult for legal citizens to vote, period.”
Turner said it could affect a wide range of people, including college students and indigenous groups, as well as those who have changed their last name after marriage, lost their documentation in a disaster, or were not born in a hospital.
In a text message, Canton Township clerk Michael Siegrist stated that noncitizen voting is extremely rare in Michigan due to the state’s “fantastic, secure voter registration system and robust criminal penalties and immigration consequences.”
“If you enjoy inefficiency and bureaucracy while failing to achieve your goal of a more secure election, these proposals are ideal for you,” said Siegrist, an elected Democrat and outspoken advocate for voting laws across the state. “You can count me out.”
Groups prepare for petition drive.
Posthumus’ proposed constitutional amendment would need two-thirds support in both chambers to be put to a vote next fall, alongside the races for governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. That is unlikely. The Michigan Senate remains controlled by Democrats, while Republicans hold a slim majority in the House.
The proposal is more likely to result in a citizen petition to get it on the ballot. A group called “Prove It, Michigan” is already preparing to take on the task. The group is managed by the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights.
According to state campaign finance records, it shares a treasurer with Protect My Vote, a group founded in 2018 to oppose Proposal 3. Prop 3 amended the state constitution to, among other things, allow for automatic voter registration for anyone who obtains a state ID, expand no-reason absentee voting, and permit same-day registration.
On an episode of the “Enjoyer” podcast that aired last week, Posthumus told host James Dickson that he was “utterly floored” that a non-citizen could vote in the 2024 election, referencing Gao.
“We have to protect the integrity of our election system,” he said, claiming that it has been weakened in recent years, as evidenced by Gao’s successfully cast ballot. “We need to put in place the guardrails to prevent that from happening.”
Those who watch the episode on YouTube are greeted by a “topical context” panel from the Bipartisan Policy Center explaining mail voting, as part of the platform’s effort to provide more information on “videos related to topics prone to misinformation.”
“Mail ballots submitted by voters who meet eligibility and validity requirements are counted in every election,” according to the notice. “Before they are counted, election officials vigorously verify the validity of every mail ballot submission.”
Jordyn Hermani, a reporter for Votebeat partner Bridge Michigan, contributed.
