Battle between SOS Jocelyn Benson and Republicans over election documents escalates
Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives passed a resolution to hold Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in contempt for withholding some election training materials requested by the House Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed Michigan's chief elections officer.
Republicans accuse Benson of hiding material they have the right to review while Benson says some of the information sought by lawmakers could compromise election security.
The passage of the resolution May 22 follows months of back and forth between the GOP-led Michigan House and Benson, a Democrat running to succeed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who cannot run again due to term limits. GOP lawmakers say they want to review the training materials to ensure the clerks who administer elections across Michigan receive proper guidance.
Two GOP lawmakers who previously served as clerks — state Reps. Jay DeBoyer of Clay Township, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, and Ann Bollin of Brighton Township — introduced the resolution to hold Benson in contempt after the deadline to comply with the subpoenas directed at Benson and the Michigan Department of State.
It passed on a party-line vote against Democratic opposition. That same day, the Department of State had prepared about half of the training material for review for potential sensitive information that might necessitate redactions, according to a May 22 letter from Heather Meingast, Division Chief for Michigan Department of Attorney's Civil Rights & Elections Division.
The resolution opens the door for the House Office of Legal Counsel to initiate legal action to ensure Benson and her department comply with the subpoenas.
"With how much has changed in state election law over the last few years, our legislators need to review those materials and ensure there aren't any holes or confusion in the training process," wrote state Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin, in a March statement. During Benson's tenure as secretary of state, the Michigan Department of State has implemented several voter-approved election changes, including a major expansion of absentee voting and early voting.
Benson said she has publicly shared thousands of pages of training materials for local election administrators. But she said she has a duty to ensure Michigan's election security. "And you cannot bully me or abuse your authority to get access to information that, if it ends up in the wrong hands, could be used to interfere with the chain of custody of ballots, tamper with election equipment or impersonate a clerk on Election Day," Benson said in a May 22 news conference.
Benson slammed House Republicans for escalating the battle over the election documents. "This is government rooted in bullying and chaos — and I'm tired of it. It's not only ineffective but it is dangerous," she said during a May 22 news conference.
Benson says she welcomes going to court over the matter, saying she and the department she leads have responded to the subpoenas in good faith and previously proposed having a third-party mediator from the judicial branch join a meeting with House legal counsel. "So if Chairman DeBoyer and the House Republicans want to go to court over this, we will see them in court," she said.
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Benson's campaign has solicited donations off the fight. "Michigan Republicans are attacking Jocelyn," reads the email subject line of a May 22 message from her campaign asking supporters to "Pitch in to stand with Jocelyn as she works to protect our democracy from GOP threats."
Benson has made government transparency a pillar of her campaign for governor. Republican lawmakers have argued that a bumpy rollout in 2025 of a new campaign finance system carried out by Benson's office and her response to the subpoenaed election information belie Benson's commitment to transparency.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan House GOP and SOS Benson fight over election documents
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