Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Citizens Only Petition topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bureau of Elections says it will canvass 752,000‑signature petition; expects to begin in June after candidate petitions
Summary
Representatives of petition sponsors urged immediate processing of a 752,000-signature citizens-only constitutional amendment; the Bureau said it will process the submission but typically sequences candidate petitions first and hopes to begin canvassing the constitutional petition in early June.
Jeff Shaefer, representing the Michigan Fair Elections Institute, told the board the citizens‑only petition submitted March 4 included roughly 752,000 signatures and urged the Bureau to set a firm plan so the measure can appear on the November 2026 ballot.
"The completed petitions were submitted March 4th, 4 months before the due date," Shaefer said, and expressed worry that the petition could be delayed while candidate petitions receive priority.
Director Brater responded that the Bureau will canvass the petition and fulfill its statutory duty: "It will be canvassed," he said. Brater explained the Bureau's usual sequence—nominating petitions for candidates first, then initiated laws and referenda, then constitutional amendments—and said candidate petitions and short, overlapping deadlines make it impractical to complete all canvassing tasks simultaneously.
Brater said the constitutional amendment petition is secured and that the Bureau expects a window in early June to begin processing, while warning that a heavy incoming volume of initiated law petitions could push that schedule later. "As soon as that process is over, as of now, we have a window at the beginning of June where we would plan to begin the process with this petition," he said.
Board members pressed staff to provide an acknowledgment and an estimated timeline; Brater apologized for a prior failure to send a confirmation and reiterated the Bureau's commitment to process all petition types regardless of content. No formal deviation from the Bureau's sequencing was adopted.
