Trump Signs Order Changing Election Rules: What That Means For MI

MICHIGAN — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order overhauling U.S. elections, including requiring proof of citizenship to register and vote in federal elections. The move is almost certain to be challenged because the Constitution gives states broad authority over elections.

Trump’s order, which also requires that all ballots be received by Election Day, says the nation has “failed to enforce basic and necessary election protections.” It calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes, and threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply.

Michigan's voting laws include early voting, absentee ballots and automatic registration.

Michiganders who are at least 16 years old, a U.S. citizen, a Michigan resident and are not currently serving a sentence in jail or prison can pre-register to vote. You will automatically become an active registered voter when you turn 17.5 years old.

Michigan voters who vote in person during early voting or on Election Day must show photo identification or sign an affidavit attesting that they do not have photo identification.

All registered Michigan voters have the right to vote by mail using an absentee ballot, which becomes available 40 days before every election. You can request the ballots from your local clerk’s office or have them mailed to your home.

All Michigan communities must allow at least nine days of consecutive in-person voting for the election, but some can add more.

A group of Republican state lawmakers has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review those laws that were approved by voters in 2018 and 2022. They argue state legislators are responsible for setting times, places and manner of elections.

Online applications for absentee ballots must be submitted by 5 p.m. the Friday before Election Day. Election officials recommend you submitt the application at least 15 days before Election Day.

The absentee ballots must be returned at your city or township clerk’s office by 4 p.m. one day before Election Day (if already registered where you live) or by 8 p.m. on Election Day (if a new/updated registrant). If you request your absentee ballot on Election Day, you must vote the ballot in the clerk's office.

Swift constitutional challenges are expected. Article I of the nation’s founding charter gives states, not the federal government, authority over the “times, places and manner” of how elections are run.

A new state law in New Hampshire requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote recently prevented at least two people from having their say in town and school elections. Their experiences, recounted by town clerks, could prove instructive for the rest of the country as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act advances in Congress and more than a dozen states consider similar legislation.

“Everything that conservatives tried to downplay, New Hampshire told us exactly what would happen on a national scale under the SAVE Act,” Greta Bedekovics, a former policy adviser for Senate Democrats who is now with the Center for American Progress, told The Associated Press earlier this month.

Voting groups worry that women who have married and changed their names will encounter difficulty registering to vote because their birth certificates have their maiden names. In Derry, New Hampshire, Brooke Yonge, a 45-year-old hair stylist, was turned away from a school election because she didn’t have proof of citizenship and then again because the name on her birth certificate didn’t match her married name on her driver’s license. Yonge eventually had to show her marriage license.

The nearly two dozen states considering proof of citizenship voting laws are: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Michigan's proposal to amend the state constitution isn’t likely to pass the Legislature since it would require two-thirds support. However, Michigan Republicans may seek a petition drive to try to put the proposal before voters on the 2026 ballot.

Trump has often claimed elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has focused particularly on mail voting, arguing without evidence that it’s insecure and invites fraud even as he has shifted his position on the issue given its popularity with voters, including Republicans.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.