Updates About Elections

Michigan voters will now have more than one proposal to consider at the ballot box this year. Americans for Citizen Voting, the organization behind the ballot initiative that would require voters to provide a valid photo ID before casting a ballot, recently turned in 750,000 signatures to the Bureau of Elections. Although the proposal required a lofty 446,198 registered Michigan voters, the group exceeded the requirement by over 300,000 signatures.

In addition to the voter ID requirement, the proposal would also eliminate the Affidavit of Identity option for those without IDs and lead to more aggressive efforts in ensuring non-citizens do not appear on voter rolls.

Republicans are praising the proposal for it’s efforts to strengthen election security. Previous polls have also demonstrated strong bipartisan agreement on requiring voter IDs, with more than half of democrats, 80% of republicans, and 70% of independents supporting a voter ID requirement. However, Democrats also have major concerns that this would limit constitutional access for voters who do not have IDs or whose identification could be withheld by family members to prevent them from voting.

The initiative will appear on the November 3rd ballot as Proposal 2.

On Tuesday, February 3rd, the Special Election Primary was held for the 35th District State Senate seat. Former Marine and current Saginaw fire captain Chadwick Greene won the Democratic primary with approximately 60% of the vote, beating out Michigan Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, who finished with around 28% of the vote, with the four other candidates capturing the remaining votes.

On the Republican side, Saginaw Attorney Jason Tunney won in a tighter race, beating out Engineer and former Dow executive Christian Velasquez 51% to 43%. The other two candidates made up for the remaining 7%.

The 35th district seat was vacated in January 2025, following the swearing-in of former incumbent Kristen McDonald Rivet (D–Bay City) to the U.S. House of Representatives. The special general election between Greene and Tunney is scheduled in May.

Last week, House Majority Floor Leader Byran Posthumus (R-Rockford) unexpectedly announced that he will not be seeking reelection to keep his seat in the next cycle.

In his statement, he wrote that he only planned to serve three terms after deciding to run in 2020. Posthumus was elected by his colleagues twice to serve as the House Floor Leader in his last two terms. By announcing his decision now, he hopes this will give sufficient time for a quality candidate to run in 2026.

Like Posthumus, his successor will represent the 90th House District. This northern Kent County district also encompasses the city of Rockford and the townships of Algoma, Alpine, Cannon, Courtland, Grattan, Plainfield, Sparta, Tyrone, and Vergennes.

Posthumus described his time in office as a privilege, saying it was an honor to serve both Kent County and the people of Michigan. He praised colleagues from both parties for what they were able to accomplish during his tenure. He also emphasized that despite their differences, both sides share a common goal of helping Michigan and its residents.