Michigan Capitol dome
The Michigan State Capitol is photographed, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Overview:

  • Michigan voters will decide in November whether to hold a convention that could rewrite the state constitution.
  • Opponents warn convention delegates could repeal clean energy laws, eliminate Great Lakes protections, or weaken the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.
  • A broad coalition including progressive organizations and business groups opposes Proposal 1.

Michigan voters will decide in the November election whether to hold a constitutional convention. Rewriting the state constitution would bring substantial risks for climate action and environmental protections, according to experts who spoke with Planet Detroit.

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Why it matters

A constitutional convention could allow for dramatic changes to Michigan's clean energy laws and other environmental protections.

Who's making public decisions

Michigan voters will decide whether to approve Proposal 1 in the Nov. 3, 2026 election, and if it passes, elected delegates from all 148 state legislative districts would hold the authority to draft constitutional changes in 2027.

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What to watch for next

The November 2026 vote on Proposal 1 will determine whether Michigan holds its first constitutional convention since the early 1960s.

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Michiganders vote on a proposal every 16 years on whether to hold a constitutional convention, which could lead to an entirely new state constitution or changes to the existing one.

A broad coalition of environmental organizations, business groups, unions, and others warn a convention could open the door to radical changes to existing environmental laws, voter-approved constitutional amendments, and voting rights. 

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Comstock Township) and Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) expressed support for a constitutional convention.

The convention could be used to change the way the state superintendent of education and university boards are selected, Nesbitt said. 

“I think there’s a lot of things that should be discussed,” Nesbitt said at a Detroit Regional Chamber political action committee event in 2025. “And the constitution could be a lot simpler than what it is right now.”  

If the constitutional convention ballot measure, or Proposal 1, passes, Michiganders would elect delegates on a partisan basis from all of Michigan’s 148 state House and Senate districts to participate in a 2027 convention. 

A majority of delegates need to approve a new constitution or constitutional amendment, which would then require approval from a majority of voters.

“The delegates are truly unlimited in what they can do,” Quinn Yeargain, a professor of the law of democracy at Michigan State University, told Planet Detroit.

Delegates could draft a new constitution or modify the existing document, including repealing legislation by constitutional change, or adjourn the convention without changes, he said.

Constitutional convention lacks precedent in polarized era: Law professor

U.S. voters have consistently voted down constitutional convention ballot questions in recent decades.

Rhode Island was the last state to approve a constitutional convention ballot measure in 1984, according to Ballotpedia.  A 1996 vote in Hawaii was overturned by the state Supreme Court.

Michiganders voted against a convention 67% to 33% in 2010. The Michigan’s Constitution was ratified in 1963.

No modern precedent exists for how a constitutional convention would work in the era of ideological polarization, Yeargain said.

Convention delegates could add environmental protections by limiting natural resource extraction or adding an environmental rights guarantee, the MSU professor said. 

Conversely, delegates could gut the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and preempt efforts to remove the Line 5 oil and natural gas pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, the MSU professor said. 

Yeargain opposes Proposal 1 and called it a “pandora’s box” where the risks outweigh the rewards.

In contrast, Speaker Hall told Michigan Public in January that a constitutional convention is needed, giving the example of changing the ballot initiative that legalized marijuana in the state. 

Altering or overturning a law passed by a ballot initiative requires a three-fourths majority in the Legislature and the governor’s approval.

Hall said the state constitution contains “so much stuff” that it doesn’t look like a constitution.

“We got some things that we got to clean up in there, and that’s why we need a constitutional convention,” Hall said.

Broad coalition opposes Proposal 1

Protect MI Constitution, a coalition of groups opposing Proposal 1, includes progressive organizations like Progress Michigan and Mothering Justice, as well as pro-business groups like the Detroit Regional Chamber and Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

Amani Johnson, democracy for all director for the Michigan League for Conservation Voters, said during a June press conference hosted by Protect MI Constitution that Proposal 1 would provide an opportunity to repeal clean energy laws and eliminate Great Lakes environmental protections.

“We’re already experiencing attacks from the federal government on land, air, water, and democracy,” Johnson said. “And that makes it even more important to vote no on Proposal 1 in November.”

Christy McGillivray, executive director for Voters Not Politicians, said on the press call that Proposal 1 may serve as a Trojan Horse for billionaires and special interests to rewrite the constitution behind closed doors.

Former Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette joined those opposing Proposal 1, and told Michigan Public it would be a chaotic process.

“This would be a circus,” Schuette said, “And would be just a podium for wannabe influencers.”

Yeargain expressed doubt that Michiganders will approve Proposal 1 this year. Many voters are not aware there is a state constitution, and no organized effort is rallying support for the proposal, he said. 

It’s also unlikely that dissatisfaction with federal leadership will find an outlet in the ballot measure, he said.

“While voters are more dissatisfied with the federal government and all three branches than they really have ever been, poll after poll shows that that doesn’t really trickle down to the states.”

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Brian Allnutt is a senior reporter and contributing editor at Planet Detroit. He covers the climate crisis, environmental justice, politics and open space.