While 2026 is a big midterm election year, there’s a lesser-known but important proposal that Michigan voters will see this November.
Every 16 years, the state constitution requires that Michigan voters decide if the state should hold a constitutional convention. At the convention, delegates could propose amendments to the state’s constitution or draft a new constitution, and their proposal would be submitted to voters.
The last Michigan vote, in 2010, was defeated overwhelmingly, with 67% of voters rejecting the proposal. Michigan is one of just over a dozen states required to ask voters about holding a constitutional convention on a regular basis. The last convention was held from 1961 to 1962 and resulted in the adoption of the state’s current constitution in 1963.
This election, voters will once again decide whether Michigan should hold a constitutional convention. Quinn Yeargain, 1855 Professor of the Law of Democracy who is also an associate professor at the Michigan State University College of Law, provides insights on the topic of constitutional conventions in Michigan.
What is a constitutional convention, and what happens during one?
If a constitutional convention were to be called, 148 elected delegates would decide what changes, if any, should be made to the Michigan Constitution. If they agreed on a set of changes — or even a new constitution — it would be submitted to voters for their approval. During a constitutional convention, nothing is off the table. Delegates could opt to make small changes or sweeping ones. They could tinker with the constitution or propose an entirely new one.
How would the delegates be selected?
If a majority of voters supports holding a constitutional convention, an election would take place no more than six months later. One delegate would be elected in a partisan election from each of the state’s 38 senate districts and 110 representative districts.
Why does Michigan vote every 16 years on whether to hold a constitutional convention?
The first Michigan Constitution, which was drafted in 1835, allowed the legislature to call a constitutional convention if voters agreed to do so. When the constitution was rewritten in 1850, delegates added in the current provision, which requires that the question of whether to hold a convention be put to voters every 16 years. The delegates debated what the appropriate amount of time was — the original draft of the constitution proposed an election every 15 years, and some delegates wanted to have an election every 10 years — and ultimately settled on 16. The provision endured in the 1908 and 1963 constitutions.
Is this type of provision unique to the Michigan Constitution?
Not at all. Twelve other states have the same basic procedure — in which the question is automatically put to voters — but Michigan is the only state to use a 16-year period. Some states ask the question every 10 years, and some every 20 years.
Why hasn’t Michigan held a constitutional convention since the 1960s?
It’s an interesting question, and one without an obvious answer. In 1978, 1994 and 2010, voters rejected convening a new constitutional convention in landslides. Only 23% of voters wanted to hold a new convention in 1978, 28% in 1994 and 33% in 2010. Michigan isn’t alone in this, however. Since 1984, when Rhode Islanders voted to hold a constitutional convention, voters have rejected the question every time it’s been asked — and in every state in which it’s been asked.
These rejections might be explained by voter ambivalence or disinterest. Surveys have shown that only a bare majority of voters are aware that their state has a constitution, and voters don’t have a lot of knowledge about what their constitution contains. As a result, it’s understandable that they don’t have very strong feelings about documents that they don’t know very much about. Though state constitutions have increased in salience in the last decade — and especially in the last five years — they’re still not something that most voters are familiar with. And the prospect of authorizing politicians to totally rewrite the state’s governing document, with no guarantee of what would stay from the current constitution, might be a frightening prospect.
Is Michigan overdue for another constitutional convention?
We’ll see how voters feel about this vote, but the Michigan Constitution has held up really well — and has proven adaptable in changing times. Though the constitution was adopted 62 years ago, and a lot has changed since then, that’s still pretty new for a constitution. Moreover, because voters are able to initiate constitutional amendments themselves, the text has been updated a number of times.
