“Only American citizens can vote in American elections,” said state Rep. Bryan Posthumus, the incoming House Republican floor leader, during a local radio interview. “Unfortunately, the current election law and framework are insufficient to safeguard this foundational principle.”

Posthumus will introduce the amendment in January’s new legislative session in response to reports that a Chinese foreign national voted in Ann Harbor during last month’s general election and that the vote was counted.

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The offices of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit announced in late October that the 19-year-old University of Michigan student was charged with two crimes: perjury and being an unauthorized elector attempting to vote.

The latter is a felony charge and could result in a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

“Only U.S. citizens can register and vote in our elections. It is illegal to lie on any registration forms or voting applications about one’s citizenship status. Doing so is a felony,” Benson and Savit said in a joint statement.

The pair also said, “Noncitizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event” in their state, but Posthumus and his fellow Republicans said Michigan is not sufficiently equipped to weed out illegal voters.

“Not one American citizen should have their vote canceled out by a non-citizen,” said Posthumus. “This is not and must not be a partisan issue. I look forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to immediately pass this constitutional amendment.”

The constitutional amendment will need the support of two-thirds of the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate or 44,000 petition signatures to go before Michigan voters.

Michigan law already bans noncitizens from voting, as does federal law. However, Republicans are eager to prevent any more instances of noncitizens from voting and influencing election results in the top battleground state.

President-elect Donald Trump narrowly won the state by less than two points, 49.7% to 48.3%, against Vice President Kamala Harris.

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National Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Trump, spent much of 2024 touting legislation that would prevent noncitizens from voting in the election by requiring citizenship documentation for people to register to vote.

“We cannot wait for widespread fraud to occur,” Johnson said in April during a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.