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Epoch Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Michigan House Holds Secretary of State Benson in Contempt for Defying Subpoena
The Michigan House declared Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in civil contempt on May 22 for defying a subpoena and refusing to turn over remaining election training materials that lawmakers seek for legislative oversight. The contempt The resolution was introduced by chairman of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Jay DeBoyer, a Republican, who said he put it forward after receiving word from the Michigan department of state that it would not be providing any additional materials. 'The Legislature is the body that determines how elections are run—the time, the manner, the place,' DeBoyer said in a May 22 Benson, a Democrat, responded on May 22 in a 'However, I also have a duty to protect the security of our elections from politicians seeking information that would enable someone to interfere with the chain of custody of ballots, tamper with election equipment, or impersonate a clerk on Election Day.' Related Stories 6/4/2024 3/22/2024 The training materials in question are those provided to local clerks instructing them on ballot handling, voter file access, and equipment protocols across the state. Rep. Joseph Fox, the Republican vice-chair of the House Election Integrity Committee, said in a House Republicans suggested that elected representatives be granted secure The department of state instead According to Michigan Michigan state Rep. Rachelle Smit. Courtesy of Rachelle Smit State Rep. Rachelle Smit, a Republican, said she has served as a clerk, 'and like thousands of other clerks, I had access to this information. My accessing it now shouldn't be controversial.' 'For seven months, we've given Secretary Benson every opportunity to sit down with us and discuss the training process for clerks and their staffs,' Smit said in a Benson also said her office has 'repeatedly asked the members of the committee to meet with us over the last several months. They have refused.' Disagreement Over Transparency and Security The action follows numerous losses by Benson in state court rulings since 2020 that her guidance violated state and federal election law, as previously Smit said legislative oversight of Benson's election administration is necessary because 'the training directives given by Secretary Benson have been deemed unlawful by Michigan courts seven times ... Secretary Benson has a proven record of failure, and the public deserves to check her work.' Benson said the issue is a need to balance transparency and oversight with security. 'I do not work for the chair of the Oversight Committee. I do not work for the House Republicans. I work for the people of Michigan and I will not put their election security, or their votes, or their voices at risk,' she said. 'I look forward to now having this conversation in front of a judge in a court of law.' House Democrat Leader Ranjeev Puri did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Jeopardizes the process:' Benson responds to House Oversight Committee subpoena
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has doubled down on her refusal to turn election training materials over to the House Oversight Committee, which has subpoenaed her for documents she says could harm the state's election security if handed over. In a letter sent to the committee on her behalf by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, Benson maintains that the materials could compromise election security, as they contain sensitive information that could be used to tamper with ballots and other election equipment and even impersonate a clerk on Election Day. FILE – Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State, (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Subpoena for election training materials delivered to Secretary of State State Rep. Jay Deboyer (R-Clay Twp.), the chair of the House Oversight Committee, says the Secretary of State has refused to turn requested materials over to him or any other member of the state legislature for five months, following a request from House Election Integrity Committee Chair State Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Shelbyville). The committee gave Benson a deadline of April 14 to provide the materials, and when the office did not comply, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena them. State Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township) 'The department has been unable to provide a compelling reason for why they are unwilling to give us, the people's elected representatives, access to materials that are available to every single locally elected clerk in the state of Michigan and their respective staffs,' said DeBoyer. A portion of the letter reads: The Secretary of State firmly believes transparency in the administration of Michigan elections is vitally important. To that end, [M]DOS's Elections website is replete with information concerning all aspects of the voting process—from registering to vote, to tabulating ballots, to post-election audits, and everything in between. But just as important is protecting the security and integrity of the voting process itself. Releasing material that would reveal security feature information or other sensitive information jeopardizes the process. This is true even if those seeking the information are well-intentioned, because each time sensitive information is released, its potential for intentional or accidental disclosure to those who would misuse it increases. Letter from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on behalf of Secretary of State Benson and the Department of State, May 7, 2025. The letter also says that the subpoenas violate state law and the rules of the Michigan House of Representatives—and that they have no legislative purpose. Benson says her office has provided more than 3,000 pages of documents to the committee, ones that do not include sensitive information. The full letter and provided attachments can be viewed below. 2025.05.07-House-Oversight-Committee-subpeona-response-AG-letterDownload 2025.05.07-Attachments-House-Oversight-Committee-subpoena-response-AG-letterDownload Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
To The Point: Divided government, election integrity
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — On this 'To The Point,' a look at divided government and election integrity. Two members of the committee tasked with looking at elections will be our guests, including the chair of the committee, Rachelle Smit, R-Shelbyville, who tells us, 'I, as the chair of the Election Integrity Committee, would like to see from the Secretary of State internal training manuals.' Committee member Stephen Wooden, D-Grand Rapids, says, 'We're seeing far more partisan games being played on the committee than we are seeing policy. Thus far, we've taken up two bills.' How Lansing is dealing with divided government and more on this 'To The Point' episode for the weekend of May 3. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Head of Michigan's House elections committee believes the 2020 election was stolen
Co-sponsors of Michigan legislation to require proof-of-citizenship for voting look on as state Rep. Bryan Posthumus submits the bill to the clerk. The co-sponsors are, from left, Reps. Brian BeGole, Jay DeBoyer, Ann Bollin, and Rachelle Smit. Smit, Bollin, and DeBoyer are former election clerks. (Courtesy of the Michigan House of Representatives) This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Michigan's free newsletter here. State Rep. Rachelle Smit, a former local clerk who believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump, will run the Michigan House's committee on elections under the new GOP leadership. Smit, a Republican from Martin, was named the chair of the House's Election Integrity Committee, as it has now been renamed. Her claims that the 2020 election was stolen have been roundly debunked but won her an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who praised her as someone 'who knows our Elections are not secure, and that there was rampant Voter Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election.' Michigan's GOP-led House rebrands Election Committee as 'Election Integrity Committee' 'I absolutely think that it was stolen, yeah, and I'm not shy to say that,' Smit said in an interview with Votebeat, repeating false claims that there were 'ballot dumps' in the early morning hours after Election Day in 2020. In 2023, she argued that a group of Michigan Trump supporters charged with creating a forged slate of electors for Trump after the 2020 election, despite Joe Biden's win in Michigan, had not done anything wrong and said that their actions were 'completely legal.' She has also supported Dar Leaf, the Barry County sheriff who has gotten national attention for his efforts to investigate the 2020 election. Smit, who also serves as speaker pro tempore of the Michigan House, was township clerk in Martin, in southwestern Michigan, before running for state office. Last session, when Democrats still controlled the House, she was the minority vice chair of the elections committee. Now, as head of the committee, she will direct its progress over the next two years on legislation related to voting, elections, campaign finance, and more. That includes the Republican-led effort to amend Michigan's Constitution to require voters to show proof of citizenship, which Smit is co-sponsoring. The House joint resolution, introduced Wednesday, will stop first in the election integrity committee before it likely goes before the full House. 'It's of the utmost importance,' she said. 'That's going to be the first order of business that we take up.' Like other Republicans in the House, Smit said she has no reason to believe Michigan's elections aren't secure. Rather, she said, she hopes to make clear to Michigan residents that legislators take the integrity of the state's elections seriously. Groups dedicated to expanding access to the ballot box have approached Smit's leadership position with cautious optimism. Promote The Vote, a coalition of voting access groups that helped get 2022's Proposal 2 in front of voters, said in a statement that it looks forward to working with her 'to ensure that our elections remain secure and accessible.' Melanie Ryska, Sterling Heights city clerk and the president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, said that her group is committed to supporting voters' rights and the security of elections. She also wondered at what point elections officials at every level would move on from the false claims and conspiracy theories that grew out of the 2020 presidential election. Both Ryska and Promote The Vote said that Smit's time as a clerk was likely to give her 'unique insight' into election administration in the state. But given that Michigan is just a few months past another successful presidential election, Ryska questioned the need for more expansive rewrites of election law. She said she felt local officials 'answered the call,' despite a flurry of constitutional changes in recent years. 'Our clerks showed that elections are secure and that there are plenty of checks and balances in place,' Ryska said. Smit's other priorities for the committee include finding vulnerabilities in the state's election laws and cleaning up laws on specific government vacancies like the one her district saw last term. When an Allegan County commissioner up for election died in August just before the primary, the remaining commissioners appointed a new member. But the law is fuzzy on who should have been on the ballot in place of the commissioner who died. Smit introduced a bill with two other Republicans and a Democrat last year to try to address it, but it didn't make it out of committee after legislative activity in the House effectively collapsed in the last few weeks of the year. The Michigan Voting Rights Act, which also died late in the session after winning the support of the Michigan Senate, will not make a comeback. The package of bills would have expanded the availability of ballots in different languages and broadly aimed to prevent voter suppression, among other changes. Supporters said it aimed to fill in the gaps in the federal Voting Rights Act that have been eroded by court decisions. Smit had expressed concerns about that package during committee hearings last session, and now that she's leading the committee, she said she 'can't get on board' with the bills. During a hearing on them in December, Smit said she had heard from a number of local clerks who were against it. The state's clerks associations remained neutral on the proposals, supporting the ideas behind them but expressing concerns about funding and the additional burden on clerks who were already managing a variety of changes to election law in recent years. 'That's a very strong message that this is not the right way about doing that,' she said last week. Other committee members on the Republican side include Rep. Joseph Fox, from Fremont, as the vice chair and Reps. Pat Outman of Six Lakes, Greg Alexander of Carsonville, Mike Hoadley of Au Gres, and Joseph Pavlov of Smiths Creek. Each of those representatives co-sponsored the House joint resolution that proposed the proof-of-citizenship constitutional amendment. Democrats on the committee are Reps. Stephen Wooden of Grand Rapids, Matt Koleszar of Plymouth, and Mai Xiong of Warren. Wooden, who is in his first term in the legislature, will be the minority vice chair. Wooden acknowledged he wouldn't have much control over the agenda, but he told Votebeat that he looked forward to finding common ground with Republican committee members. 'I know that often, the elections committee can be a place where you see some of the most bipartisan, commonsense legislation by working with the clerks to get mechanical changes to our elections and ensure our elections are moving smoothly,' he said. The committee is expected to meet in the coming days, although no official time has yet been set.
