MI voters to decide if it’s time for a constitutional convention

Is it time to rewrite Michigan’s constitution? Voters will answer that question in 2026.

A ballot proposal asks whether state residents want to call a constitutional convention. The last one happened in 1961. Voters approved a new constitution in 1962.

By law, the issue must appear on the ballot every 16 years. Voters rejected convention calls in 1978, 1994, and 2010.

Justin Long is an associate professor at Wayne State University’s School of Law. He’s an expert on state constitutions, including Michigan’s. He says the 16-year cycle gives voters time to think about how state government works and whether to change it.

“The thought was if there’s something seriously wrong with the structure of state government, it’ll take us a few years to figure it out,” he says. We’ll give it a try for a few years, and by 16 years, it’s time to decide whether it’s working or not.”

What does it say?

Proposal 1 will appear on the November 2026 ballot as follows:

A PROPOSAL TO CONVENE A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DRAFTING A GENERAL REVISION OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION

Shall a convention of elected delegates be convened in 2027 to draft a general revision of the State Constitution for presentation to the state’s voters for their approval or rejection?

Voters can either say “yes” or “no.”

It’s not a popular question

So why haven’t voters felt the need to call for a new convention in over 60 years? Long says caution may be one reason.

“I think neither political party [Democratic or Republican] feels assured that they’ll be able to control the convention, because delegates are elected directly by the people,” he says. “And the delegates would presumably know that if they did anything too wild, the voters wouldn’t pass it.”

That said, delegates could either tweak parts of the constitution or rewrite the entire document. For example, Long says they could decide which offices get elected and which ones don’t.

“They could decide whether we want to have two houses of the Legislature or just one,” he says. “They’re basically unfettered at that point.”

What happens at a ConCon?

If voters do call for a constitutional convention, another election would take place within six months. Long says that’s when voters would choose delegates.

“There’d be one delegate elected from every House district and one from every Senate district,” he says. “They would then hire staff, and then they would meet and debate.”

Long says once the delegates have drafted a new constitution, they submit it to the voters.

“And that vote would be by a simple majority,” he says.

If voters say no to a constitutional convention this year, it wouldn’t come up again until 2042.