Celebrate Statehood:

Michigan Votes

American government is a representative democracy. When Michigan's people decided to become a state, 91 representatives wrote its constitution.

One of the hardest things about writing the 1835 constitution was deciding who would have the right to vote in Michigan. Some states said only land owners could vote. Michigan decided that every white man over 21 years old could vote after he lived in the state for six months. Who was left out?