Voters in Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township will decide Nov. 3 whether Michigan should hold a constitutional convention to consider revising the state constitution. A “yes” vote would start that process; any proposed changes would require a separate statewide vote.

Proposal 1 asks whether the state should hold a convention in 2027. If approved, voters would elect 148 delegates, one from each state House and Senate district. The question appears automatically every 16 years. Voters last approved a convention in 1961 and rejected it in 1978, 1994 and 2010, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency’s analysis.

The official ballot language from Michigan’s Bureau of Elections reads: "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?"

A WDIV/Detroit News poll conducted Aug. 31 through Sept. 3 found 47.2% of respondents supported the proposal, 31.1% opposed it and 21.8% said they did not know. The poll surveyed 600 likely Michigan voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, said those numbers don't necessarily predict the outcome. He told C&G Newspapers he sees little evidence of a groundswell for a convention.

Dulio said opening the constitution means some delegates could push to start from scratch. He warned the process of selecting delegates could itself become deeply partisan.

"In a time of hyper-partisanship and polarization, I think you can absolutely question whether or not it's the right time to undertake something of this magnitude," Dulio told C&G.

He acknowledged the current constitution has been amended repeatedly and said there is a case for producing a cleaner version. But he cautioned that the political environment makes the process risky.

State Sen. Mike Webber, a Republican representing Senate District 9 in Oakland and Macomb counties, also opposes the measure, according to C&G. Webber said existing legislative and citizen-led ballot proposals already provide ways to change the constitution without the upheaval of a full convention.

The opposition crosses party lines. Bridge Michigan reported that Protect MI Constitution from Special Interests brings together unions, business groups, chambers of commerce and organizations on opposing sides of the abortion debate.

PR consultant John Sellek, who opposes a convention, described the coalition on WDET's MichMash podcast on Sept. 25. He pointed to the unusual cooperation between the UAW and Michigan Chamber of Commerce, and between Planned Parenthood and the Michigan Catholic Conference.

Supporter Dennis Lennox, a Republican public affairs consultant, told Michigan Advance that a convention could modernize the document and address several reforms together rather than through separate amendment campaigns. He also emphasized that voters would have the final say.

Opponents warn a convention could put voter-approved constitutional amendments at risk, including abortion rights protections, the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and no-reason absentee voting, according to Bridge. The current constitution does not set a deadline for the convention to finish.

The Senate Fiscal Agency’s current analysis presents several cost estimates. The total would depend on the convention’s duration, staffing and whether delegate elections and the ratification vote coincide with other scheduled elections.

Any proposed constitution or amendments approved by the convention would still require approval from a majority of Michigan voters voting on the proposal. The ratification vote would take place at least 90 days after the convention’s final adjournment. If Proposal 1 fails Nov. 3, the next automatically scheduled convention question would be in 2042, according to the Citizens Research Council.

Voters can check their ballot and find their polling place through the voter-information tools linked from Michigan’s Secretary of State elections page.