The Michigan House of Representatives is forming a new select committee to consider policy changes at the state Bureau of Elections and Board of State Canvassers.
The canvassing board this week blocked a proposed state constitutional amendment from appearing on the November ballot. The measure would tighten Michigan’s voter ID laws and require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The board's decision to stop the ballot drive hinged on technicalities around which petition signatures should count toward the total needed to get the measure on the ballot.
The group behind the petition drive, Americans for Citizen Voting Michigan, turned in far more signatures than needed to qualify. However, after nonpartisan staff at the state Bureau of Elections conducted a review of a 1,000-signature sample, and processed challenges to some of them, the campaign appeared short.
At Monday’s meeting, Americans for Citizen Voting presented the canvassing board with evidence that the group said showed more of the signatures in the sample should have been allowed. The campaign said those new signatures would put it over the threshold needed to make the ballot.
But the four-member board split on whether to accept the new filings. The two Republicans voted to accept them, and two Democrats voted to reject them, since some were submitted after a deadline. The deadlock left the petition campaign unable to advance.
House Republicans said Wednesday that they want answers on how that could happen.
The new committee, made up of five Republicans and two Democrats, will have the power to issue subpoenas and call people to testify under oath.
