Michigan's Proposal 1: 2026 Election Preview

Michiganders will decide on Nov. 3 if the state's constitution should be rewritten, a chance they automatically get every 16 years.

If voters pass the measure, then it would trigger Michigan's first constitutional convention in more than 65 years.

While just 33 percent of voters approved revising the state constitution in 2010, it was 5 percentage points higher than in 1994.

A recent WDIV/Detroit News poll indicated a plurality of voters indicated support for Proposal 1, 47 percent to 31 percent, with about 22 percent undecided.

Here's What It Could Look

The complicated process would start with voters electing 148 delegates to the convention. The delegates would come from different areas of the state. They would then rewrite the constitution and send it back to voters for potential approval in the next statewide election.

The process could take months, and it's unclear how often the delegates would actually meet to discuss any changes.

It's also possible one political party could gain a majority of delegates. The last constitutional convention in 1961 saw 99 Republicans and 45 Democrats, according to state records.

"We see it as a dangerous Trojan horse that can roll out the welcome mat for wealthy special interests and the very same corporations that we’re also concerned have been buying our elections," Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians Christy McGillivray told Bridge Michigan.

Who's For, Against The Initiative

Republican House Speaker House Speaker Matt Hall told the Michigan Advance that he plans to support the initiative.

"They stuff so many things in this Constitution, all kinds of things, every time," Hall told the outlet, while pointing to ballot proposals legalizing marijuana and creating an independent redistricting commission that were approved by voters as examples.

"Some of those proposals sounded good, but then had intentions that the public is frustrated about," he added.

Several voting rights groups formed to create the Protect MI Constitution from Special Interests group, which is against a constitutional convention.

The group includes Voters Not Politicians, the League of Women Voters of Michigan, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Michigan, and several unions.

They argue a full convention "opens a Pandora’s Box" that could have "potentially devastating consequences for Michigan citizens for decades to come."

What changes could be made?

Under the current language, anything in the constitution could be changed. That includes voter-approved amendments to the current Constitution, such as abortion rights.

Michiganders in 2022 approved Proposal 3, which amended the state's constitution and nullified a 1931 abortion ban.

State Rep. Jay DeBoyer, the Republican nominee to be Michigan's lieutenant governor, said that a constitutional convention may provide a path to roll back the state's protected abortion rights, according to a Detroit News report.

"Sometimes, you have to say to yourself, 'This might be our only way,'" DeBoyer said, according to a recording the newspaper obtained. "It might be."

DeBoyer later walked back the comments, saying, "The abortion issue is settled in Michigan."

The Last Michigan Constitutional Convention

The last constitutional convention ran for about 10 months from 1961 to 1962. Lawmakers gathered for almost 500 hours in general and committee sessions before ratifying Michigan's fourth and current constitution in 1963.

The convention was notable for its advancements in public education, the formal abolishment of the death penalty and commitment to maintaining the civil rights of all Michigan citizens.

It has been amended 39 times, the last in 2022 when Michiganders passed Proposal 3, which enshrined abortion rights in the constitution.