Ballot Proposal Issue Count Stands At 6 This Summer

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/18/2025) Voter identification, ranked-choice voting, taxing the rich to pay for schools, chopping local property taxes, a referendum on tipped wages, and how renewable energy projects are sited are possible petitions that could be seen across the state this summer.

The Bureau of Elections has 11 possible drives that are either slated to go before the Board of State Canvassers or have had their petitions approved and could possibly turn in signatures to try to get on the 2026 gubernatorial election ballot.

Of the 11:

1. Three petitions are asking for a constitutional amendment requiring people to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote and identification before voting.

Two of the three petitions are from the same group and the third is from a group backed by Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford). If the two groups don’t come together under one petition, two petitions on the same issue could be circulated at the same time.

2. Ranked-choice voting started its petition circulation this week and volunteers with Rank MI Vote are expected to hit several events, including the Ann Arbor Art Fair. The group was recently approved by the Board of State Canvassers and would create a ranked system of voting in Michigan.

3. The Invest In MI Kids ballot question recently had the petition rescinded by the Board of Canvassers because of a technical error surrounding the public comment time allowed for the petition on the Bureau of Election’s website.

The Board of State Canvassers announced on Friday they would meet July 31 to give the petition another go, which the ballot question director said they were not too worried about getting through the board.

Attorney Steve Liedel appeared Friday before the Board of State Canvassers to protest rescinding the petition but acquiesced to Board Chair Richard Houskamp, who had set the date in July.

“You heard what happened here on the 10th. Do you want that petition to continue? Do you want the public comment to stay open until the 21st and do you want us to consider that on the 31st?” Houskamp asked.

Liedel said “yes” and the board moved on with their agenda.

4. The Ax MI Tax has two petitions to try to eliminate property taxes in Michigan. Karla Wagner, who was heading the petition circulation, said they would be collecting signatures this spring and summer after being approved before Christmas. The website for the organization has locations where people can go to sign the petition.

The group was also at events, such as the Barry County Fair in Hastings and the Pioneer Power and Tractor Show in West Branch, this past weekend trying to get enough signatures.

5. Voters to Stop Pay Cuts ballot question has a referendum against the first that passed through the Legislature that gutted a 2018 citizen-backed law that increased the minimum wage and got rid of the lower-tipped minimum wage.

The group is backed by One Fair Wage and looks to repeal SB 8, which would be paused and placed on the ballot if they get the required number of signatures. The group needs 5 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, or 223,099, to get on the ballot.

The group was approved for their petition by the Canvassers in June, but wasn’t happy about the final wording of their 100-word summary.

6. Citizens for Local Choice, a group trying to return the siting of solar, wind, and energy storage facilities to local governments, failed to make the 2024 ballot, but organizers said they would try to make the 2026 ballot. However, the group’s website was taken down and there has been no activity on the group’s Facebook page since Nov. 20, 2024.

Also, two other older petitions had their form approved two years ago, but their window to collect signatures closes at the end of 2025, and there's no sign of activity. Those are:

The Michigan Initiatives For Action, put together by John Clore, would open up the Governor’s Office and every Legislator to a blanket Freedom of Information Act request with no carve-outs or caveats.

The petition was approved by the board in 2023, but didn’t make the 2024 ballot.

The last possible ballot proposal that was expected to expire this year was the citizen-backed law to reinstate good-time credits for prisoners in Michigan. The group also failed to make the 2024 ballot.