LANSING, Mich., Aug. 22, 2025 — On Wednesday, House Republicans passed House Bill 4707, which would ban ranked choice voting in Michigan elections, including at the local level. The proposed ban comes on the heels of the MI Board of Canvassers approving a proposed ballot petition to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan. State Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing), who spoke against the Republican-backed bill on the House floor, released the following statement after the vote:
“The implementation of ranked choice voting is already not allowed under current state law — what Republicans do not want you to realize, however, is that there is a growing number of communities across Michigan, including my own, which have supported the implementation of ranked choice voting when the issue was brought before them. That support has grown so much that at this very moment, signatures are being collected to see if enough Michiganders are in support of ranked choice voting for it to be left up to the voters on the 2026 ballot. If my Republican colleagues are so convinced that voters do not want ranked choice voting or that it is too confusing, then they should let the voters decide that.
“As it stands right now, this bill is nothing more than a blatant anti-democracy power grab. We should be focused on finding ways to protect our democratic process, not restrict it.”
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