With the passage of Proposal 3 in 2018, Michigan became an automatic voter registration state. Every person who obtains a Michigan ID or driver’s license is automatically registered to vote, unless they opt out.
While it may seem like a matter of convenience to streamline voter registration in Michigan, it paved the way to inflate our voter rolls with ineligible voters and increased the possibility of fraud in future elections.
In 2023, Michigan Democrats quietly passed a package of bills clarifying the automatic voter registration process to include “pre-registration” for 16 and 17 year olds when they receive a Michigan driver’s license.
As of August 2025, 24,178 Michigan teens are “pre-registered” to vote under the legislation that went into effect on June 30, 2025. That’s about 12,000 “pre-registrations” a month. You can see how quickly our voter rolls will grow every year.
The package of bills clarifies “pre-registered” voters will not be added to the qualified voter file until they are eligible to vote at the age of 18 and that the process is an “Opt Out,” not an “Opt In.”
In other words, unless a young voter specifically opts out of voter preregistration, they will be added to our voter rolls on their 18th birthday—when they typically graduate high school and many leave for college.
A quarter of Michigan’s youngest voters plan to leave the state within 10 years. Why are we automatically filling our voter rolls with young people who aren’t likely to stick around?
Automatically adding voters who are likely to move out of state for college or a job, possibly never to return, means they could vote in two states or even vote in person since Michigan does not require ID to vote. This law also generates excess absentee ballots that invites voter fraud.
If a voter does not have an ID, they can sign an affidavit stating they are an eligible voter, and their vote will count; just like a Chinese national who voted in Ann Arbor last year.
Automatic voter registration doesn’t stop at young voters however. The bills also require the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to forward all eligible applicants for Medicaid for voter registration, Tribal Councils to consider automatic voter registration, and the Michigan Department of Corrections to forward all recently released prisoners for voter registration.
Now you know why Michigan Democrats, like Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, have been pushing early release for prisoners under Second Look Sentencing Legislation, Productivity Credits, and resentencing for Juveniles convicted of first-degree murder, jeopardizing the safety of Michiganders.
It has nothing to do with second chances. Every one of them will be added to voter rolls. And just like young, pre-registered voters, they will have to opt out of voting if they don’t wish to vote.
If they return to prison or leave the state, their name is still on the list to generate an absentee ballot or for someone else to vote without an ID by signing an affidavit.
Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor in 2026, has been accused of maintaining inflated Michigan voter rolls and is now subject of a DOJ lawsuit for refusing to comply with a federal investigation on Michigan’s voting procedures.
Judges have criticized her practices as unconstitutional, and said she manipulated the presidential ballot last fall.
What makes us think adding future ineligible voters to Michigan’s voter rolls will make our elections more secure? I’ll ask once again—do we trust her to supervise her own election for governor next fall?
Anna Hoffman is a hockey mom of three living in Ann Arbor. Follow her on X @shoesonplease.
