Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh ordered Michigan officials to respond by noon Wednesday to an emergency request seeking to place a voter identification amendment on the state’s November ballot.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Board of State Canvassers, and other state officials must answer the application filed by Americans for Citizen Voting.
The order does not indicate how Kavanaugh or the Supreme Court will rule. It gives Michigan officials an opportunity to present their arguments before the justices decide whether to grant emergency relief.
Americans for Citizen Voting turned to the Supreme Court on Monday after Michigan election officials rejected its proposed constitutional amendment. The measure would require voters to provide proof that they are U.S. citizens.
The group submitted more than 700,000 signatures supporting the proposal. Michigan law requires at least 446,198 valid signatures for a constitutional amendment to appear on the ballot.
The Board of State Canvassers reviewed a random sample of 1,000 signatures and determined that 626 were valid, which was not enough for the petition to qualify. A separate review by the Michigan Bureau of Elections accepted 612 signatures from the sample.
Americans for Citizen Voting argued that excluding the amendment would permanently prevent Michigan voters from deciding the issue in November.
“If respondents’ decision to keep ACVM’s petition off the ballot stands, then Michigan voters will never have a chance to vote on the petition, regardless of whether it should or should not have been placed on the ballot,” the group wrote.
The organization first asked the Michigan Supreme Court to reverse the canvassing board’s decision. It then sought help from the U.S. Supreme Court after the state court did not immediately act.
The group accused the canvassing board of waiting more than five months to reject its petition, leaving little time to resolve the dispute before ballots are finalized.
Americans for Citizen Voting asked the Supreme Court to act by Sept. 3, one day before Michigan’s deadline to complete the November ballot.
Social media users welcomed Kavanaugh’s order, calling it a positive step and accusing Michigan Democrats of trying to keep the amendment off the ballot.
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