LANSING, Mich. — Michigan will keep its constitution as it stands after voters on Tuesday soundly turned down Proposal 1, the once-every-16-years question asking whether to call a convention to rewrite it.
The race was called at 9:40 p.m. By early Wednesday, with about 91% of the expected vote in, no led 73.8% to 26.2%, close to a three-to-one split.
Had it passed, delegates elected from legislative districts across the state would have met to review and possibly redraft the whole document.
The question appears automatically every 16 years under the state constitution, always in a midterm year. It has not succeeded since 1961, the convention that produced the current constitution, and voters said no by wide margins in 1978, 1994 and 2010. The yes share has grown over time, though not nearly enough to change the outcome.
Opposition this year crossed the usual political lines. Planned Parenthood of Michigan and Right to Life of Michigan both urged a no vote, joined by business groups, labor unions and educators. Many feared special interests would use a convention to write rules that favored them.
The coalition leading the no campaign, Protect MI Constitution from Special Interests, thanked supporters after the result was clear.
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