Jocelyn Benson

Hearings are expected to begin soon in the Michigan Legislature on a 39-bill Republican election package aimed at reversing absentee ballot access and early voting policies in the battleground state.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, on Thursday slammed the bills, describing them as a response to a problem that doesn’t exist, and that would tamp down legal voting.

Michigan’s Secretary of State is at odds with State Senate Republicans over appearing before a committee to testify on election security.

The state Senate Oversight Committee is scheduled to meet April 20.

State Director of Elections Jonathan Brater is scheduled to appear.  But Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has declined.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson spoke before the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration committee Wednesday as it debates a series of voting rights bills. She said the 2020 election was conducted without widespread fraud, but that hasn’t stopped some Republicans from attempting to make voting more difficult.

“The election of 2020 is behind us. The war on democracy is escalating," said Benson. "And in addition to the ongoing efforts of democracy deniers to spread misinformation alongside continued attacks and threats against election officials, a new battlefront has emerged in state legislatures all across the country.”

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says Michigan has finished the most comprehensive election audit in the state’s history. In short – there was no widespread voter fraud.

Many of the allegations of impropriety were centered on the Democratic stronghold of Detroit. Benson says the audit proves again that those allegations were completely unfounded.

“These efforts are dangerous, racist and undertaken for personal and political gain. They are also completely meritless as proven by these audits and must be treated as such in the future.”

First, they lost in court. Now, four pro-Trump attorneys who tried to overturn Michigan’s 2020 presidential election results could lose their ability to practice law.

Michigan’s top three elected state officials are calling for the disbarment of controversial attorney Sidney Powell and three Michigan lawyers who tried to win in court what President Donald Trump lost at the election booth.  

The lawsuit, King v Whitmer, brought by the pro-Trump attorneys, cited false claims of voter fraud.  Similar lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona.  

On Monday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson filed complaints with the Attorney Grievance Commission of the State of Michigan and the State Bar of Texas.

The Michigan Supreme Court won’t hear a case challenging the Secretary of State’s decision to mail absentee ballot applications to voters. 

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson mass mailed the applications to registered voters across the state. A Highland Park activist, Robert Davis, sued because he was concerned the unsolicited applications were unlawful and candidates could challenge votes because of that.

The Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club’s ‘Environmentalist of the Year’ did not plant a forest or fight pollution. The environmental group is honoring Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has refused an invitation to appear before the Michigan House Oversight Committee.

In a letter to Republican committee chair Matt Hall, she said he’s been complicit in spreading disinformation about the integrity of the November election.

Hall said he was responding to an interview he heard with Benson where she expressed a willingness to appear. He says the invitation will remain open.

“I’m hoping she will come in because I think there’s no one better than the Secretary of State to have a conversation with and answer questions about how we can run this election smoother and how we can restore confidence in our state’s elections,” Hall said.

County board of canvassers meetings are usually the dullest events imaginable. The boards, comprised of two Republicans and two Democrats, meet to review the results of a post-election canvass. That canvass is meant to catch any major irregularities, down to the precinct level, make sure every vote is accounted for, and then certify the unofficial results.

Republicans on the Wayne County vote-canvassing board say they want to take back their votes to certify the November 3 election results.

GOP canvassers said in notarized affidavits they felt pressured to certify following a rancorous public comment period.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Monday lawyers and election staff are ready to handle any disruptions at the polls Tuesday.

That’s as there’s no word from the state Supreme Court on whether to allow the open carry of guns at polling places.

Nessel said in a phone call that no matter which way the decision goes, there are laws against brandishing firearms and disrupting polling places. 

Poll workers are pre-processing absentee ballots in some Michigan cities ahead of Tuesday’s election under a new law.

More than 2.9 million ballots have already been cast in Michigan.

More than 30,000 poll workers have been recruited for this year’s election.

The Michigan appeals court has rejected an appeal from a Democratic state official who wants to ban the open carry of guns outside polling places. The court says said voter intimidation already is illegal.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel say it’s not too late to reinstate a ban on openly carrying guns at or near polling places on Election Day.

They are appealing a court ruling that struck down a directive from Benson that banned open carry in and near polling places on Election Day.

With one week to go before Election Day, a Secretary of State office spokesman says two out of every three absentee ballots Michiganders requested have already been returned to local clerk’s offices.

Gun rights groups are trying to reverse Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s ban on openly carrying firearms where people will vote or where ballots are counted on Election Day. Benson’s office said she has a legal duty to protect voters and poll workers from intimidation, harassment, and coercion.

Three groups filed a lawsuit Friday in the Michigan Court of Claims. Dean Greenblatt is an attorney for the group Michigan Open Carry. He says Benson is acting outside her authority.

More than half of the three million requested absentee ballots have already been cast, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Benson said that voters have received nearly all of the three million absentee ballots they have requested with two weeks left to go before Election Day. 

"When you reflect on the fact that just under 4.8 million voted in the November 2016 election, the fact that two weeks out, already three million are on track to vote early in this election is just extraordinary," said Benson, predicting that the number of absentee ballot requests will continue to climb.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said she’s using her authority to ensure fair and orderly elections to ban openly carrying firearms at polling places.

A voting education group has  launched a new initiative in collaboration with with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says voting is more accessible than ever before this election year, and the results will be accurate—but not necessarily quick.

Benson urged Michigan voters to take advantage of early voting, which has already begun, as she picked up a ballot at a satellite clerk’s office in Detroit on Monday. It’s one of 23 satellite clerk’s offices that the city, working with Benson’s office, has established for Detroit voters to register, pick up, and cast their ballots leading up to Election Day.

Republican leaders in the Legislature are making their final push to reverse a court ruling that absentee ballots that arrive at clerks’ offices after Election Day must be counted.

The first step is for House and Senate GOP leaders to ask to become direct parties to the case. A motion filed Tuesday asked for standing to challenge a Court of Claims decision.

The Michigan Department of State is notifying millions of potential Michigan voters how to register and cast ballots in the November election. The mailings are expected to arrive in people's mailboxes within a week or so, according to the Department's press release.

Letters are on their way to about 700,000 Michiganders who have a Michigan driver's license or state ID and who are eligible to vote but not yet registered in Michigan. The letters explain how to register and how to apply for an absentee ballot.

The COVID-19 pandemic made “business as usual” at the Secretary of State’s offices impossible. Instead of walking in to renew license plate tags, people have been making appointments. Some of those appointments are months away.

The renewal extension that was implemented is running out on September 30. So, months away is no longer going to work.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Detroit city clerk Janice Winfrey have formed what they call a “partnership” to help run Detroit’s November election more smoothly.

Detroit had some election troubles during the August primary. There was a mismatch between electronic poll book entries and voter tallies in many precincts, particularly absentee voter ones. That led to calls for Benson to step in and make sure Winfrey’s office could handle things in November.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has granted a motion for immediate consideration in a lawsuit filed by three Detroit residents, seeking to force the Michigan Secretary of State and Michigan Elections Director to train Detroit's city clerk and its election workers.

The lawsuit was filed after serious problems occurred in the city's August primary. The count in 46% of Detroit precincts did not match the number of ballots in poll books. That means they could not have been  recounted in the event of a recount. 

A Michigan Court of Claims judge has ruled Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was allowed to send every voter in the state an application to vote absentee instead of in-person. The judge rejected a legal challenge that said Benson, a Democrat, acted outside her authority as the state’s top elections official.

The ruling says the mailing sent to 7.7 million voters before the August primary did not infringe on the Legislature’s lawmaking authority. It says that’s because Benson was executing the will of voters who adopted no-reason absentee voting in 2018.