Citizens Only Voting Saga

Justice Kavanaugh requests response, due by Noon (EDT), on September 2, 2026

This is a follow-up to our earlier note on the Citizens Only Voting amendment being kept off the November ballot.

Where things stand as of August 31, 2026

Americans for Citizen Voting–Michigan (ACVM) has now filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court asking for an injunction to place the amendment on Michigan’s November 3, 2026 ballot. The application is pending before Justice Kavanaugh as Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit. Counsel asked the Court to act no later than Thursday, September 3.

The Michigan Board of State Canvassers is scheduled to meet Friday, September 4 at 10:00 a.m. to finalize the ballot. That is the practical deadline.

Emergency application (PDF):
https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/americans-citizen-voting-michigan-emergency-app-scotus.pdf

---

How we got here

Item	Number
Signatures submitted (March 4, 2026)	709,841
Valid signatures required	446,198
Sample size reviewed	1,000
Valid signatures needed in the sample	629
Valid signatures found after the Aug. 24 canvass	626
Margin	three short

After a roughly seven-hour Board of State Canvassers meeting on Monday, August 24, the board deadlocked 2–2 on party lines. Because a tie is not a majority to certify, the measure was kept off the ballot.

Weeks earlier, that same board certified the “Money Out of Politics” petition 3–1.

You do not have to support the amendment to see the problem: more than 700,000 petition signatures should not live or die on a 1,000-signature sample and a tie vote.

---

Michigan Supreme Court

ACVM filed for mandamus and related relief in the Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday, August 27 (reported as Case No. 170595).

Michigan law is not ambiguous. MCL 168.479(2) says a legal challenge to the Board’s declaration on an initiative petition:

“has the highest priority and shall be advanced on the supreme court docket so as to provide for the earliest possible disposition.”

As of this writing, the Michigan Supreme Court has taken no action — not even a request for a response from the Board, the Secretary of State, or the Director of Elections. The campaign’s SCOTUS filing treats that silence as a constructive denial of relief, given the September 4 ballot deadline.

---

What the SCOTUS filing argues

The applicants (ACVM and voter Fred Smith) ask the U.S. Supreme Court to order the measure onto the ballot pending further proceedings. Core claims include:

1. Delay. Signatures were submitted March 4 — more than four months before the July 6 filing deadline. Staff review of 1,000 signatures stretched into mid-August, leaving almost no time to cure challenged signatures before the canvass.
2. Rejected affidavits. Several signers submitted sworn, notarized affidavits confirming they signed the petition. The Board still treated those signatures as invalid.
3. No access to the comparison file. Campaign lawyers say they were denied the ability to review the Qualified Voter File signature images used to reject sampled signatures.
4. Uneven rules. They allege late challenges were accepted while voter affidavits were rejected as untimely, and that similar close-call petitions have been treated differently.
5. Irreparable harm. Once the September 4 ballot is locked and absentee printing begins, there is no practical way to restore the petition to the November ballot.

The amendment itself would require citizenship verification for voters, documentation of that verification, removal of non-citizens from the voter file after notice, and photo ID / related ID rules for voting, including absentee voting.

---

Key dates

• March 4, 2026 — 709,841 signatures submitted
• August 24 — Board deadlocks 2–2 after ~7-hour review
• August 27 — Mandamus filed in Michigan Supreme Court
• August 30–31 — Emergency application filed at U.S. Supreme Court
• September 3 — Date by which applicants asked SCOTUS to act
• September 4, 10:00 a.m. — Board of State Canvassers meeting to finalize the ballot
• November 3 — General election

---

What we are asking

1. Share this update with your lists, families, neighbors, etc.
2. Watch for a SCOTUS order and the September 4 Board meeting.
3. If you speak with legislators or the press, keep the focus on process: volume of signatures, sample size, the 2–2 deadlock, the statutory “highest priority” duty, and the Court’s silence.

We will send another note as soon as there is a ruling.