State Rep. Josh Schriver today voted for the creation of a new state House select committee charged with examining the review and certification process for the Americans for Citizen Voting petition, which submitted 709,841 signatures but was recently prevented from advancing to the November ballot.

The proposed constitutional amendment would require individuals voting in Michigan elections to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.

“More than 700,000 Michiganders signed this petition because they believe the integrity of our elections matters,” said Schriver (R-Oxford). “We need to understand exactly how petition signatures are selected, reviewed, and ultimately certified. We also need to make sure the process is fair, consistent and understandable to the people of Michigan. Regardless of where someone stands on the proposed amendment itself, every Michigander should be able to have confidence that our petition process is being administered fairly.”  

The move to create the Select Committee comes after the Michigan Board of State Canvassers spent nearly seven hours Monday reviewing the petition signatures and reached a stalemate over whether the campaign had submitted the required number of valid signatures.

Americans for Citizen Voting submitted 709,841 signatures, compared with the 446,198 valid signatures required for the proposal to qualify. According to the Bureau of Elections, the campaign fell short of the required number of valid signatures based on its review of a random sample of 1,000 signatures.

“We need to know that every step of that process is being conducted with the highest level of transparency and accountability,” Schriver said. “That means asking basic questions. How is the sample selected? How are signatures evaluated? Are the standards being applied consistently? Are there changes that could make the process more transparent and easier for citizens and petition organizers to understand?”

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