Majority Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus will serve as vice chair on a new House select committee investigating what happened to the Americans for Citizen Voting petition after more than 709,000 signatures were submitted, but the proposal was blocked from advancing to the November ballot.

The Michigan House of Representatives created the Select Committee on the Rules and Procedures of the Bureau of Elections and the Board of State Canvassers after the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked on whether the petition had enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment would require people voting in Michigan elections to prove they are U.S. citizens before casting their ballot.

“When more than 700,000 Michiganders sign a petition, you don’t just shrug your shoulders and move on,” Posthumus said. “Now, it’s not going to be on the ballot, and people understandably want to know why. Our job is pretty simple: Ask questions, follow the facts, and figure out exactly what happened.”

The Board of State Canvassers spent nearly seven hours Monday, Aug. 24, reviewing the petition before deadlocking on whether the campaign met the required threshold of 446,198 valid signatures.

The dispute centered on a sample of 1,000 petition signatures reviewed by election officials. According to the Bureau of Elections, Americans for Citizen Voting fell just short of the number of valid signatures needed within that sample to qualify for certification.

“This is a lot bigger than a spreadsheet or a sample of signatures. More than 700,000 Michiganders signed their names, and they deserve a straight answer about what happened,” Posthumus said. “Maybe everything was done exactly right. I want to see the process, see the numbers, and let the facts speak for themselves.”

The committee’s work comes amid continued scrutiny of noncitizen voting in Michigan. Earlier this year, the Secretary of State’s office confirmed at least 15 noncitizens illegally cast ballots in the 2024 general election. Attorney General Dana Nessel also recently announced charges against five noncitizens for election-related crimes connected to the 2024 election cycle.

Posthumus said the committee’s work should not be about whether lawmakers personally support or oppose the proposed constitutional amendment. Instead, he said the focus should be on whether the petition received a fair review and whether Michigan residents can have confidence in the process.

“You don’t have to like the proposal to agree that 709,841 signatures deserve a serious look,” Posthumus said. “This isn’t complicated. We’re going to ask questions, look at how the decisions were made, and figure out whether the process got it right.”

The select committee is expected to begin its work in the coming weeks.