(The Center Square) – The Republican leader of the Oversight Committee in the Michigan House of Representatives continues to object to the methodical release of election training material from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Benson, a Democrat, responded to a committee subpoena by releasing an additional 300 pages of materials reviewed by legal and election security teams to the committee on an election transparency website.
“I believe in oversight and transparency, and that’s precisely why our department has voluntarily complied with this request, providing thousands of pages of documents used to train and educate our local clerks,” Benson said. “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. We’ll continue to work with the chair of the committee to explain these realities, and we’ll do the same in a court of law.”
Overall, Benson has released 3,300 pages of training documents to the committee over a five-month stretch, but that’s not enough for Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin, who says Benson is delaying and speculates the secretary of state is concerned about materials coming into public view.
“This is nothing more than a delay tactic being used by someone who seems to be petrified the public will actually find out how she’s been training our clerks,” Smit said. “The Legislature has a responsibility to review these materials to ensure our clerks are being properly trained. Any attempts to prevent that core legislative function amounts to nothing more than clear obstruction.”
As previously reported by The Center Square, through a letter from Attorney General Dana Nessel, Benson told the committee her office would continue to protect information that could potentially be used to impact the chain of custody of ballots, tamper with election equipment or impersonate a clerk on election day.
Nessel’s letter outlines several objections by the secretary of state’s office, saying they violate state laws and Michigan House rules.
Also, Benson says the materials asked for serve no legislative purpose, and the large amount of information requested is an “unacceptable” security risk to Michigan elections.
Smit said the slow release is embarrassing, and clerks across the state have access to the information requested.
“While we acknowledge the Department of State released new information today, there is no reason why Secretary Benson and her staff cannot fulfill the House’s subpoena in full today,” Smit said. “For some baseless reason, they continue to release small batches of information and tout them as huge wins in transparency. It’s not transparency, it’s embarrassing. There are thousands of clerks in Michigan who have access to this information.”
Smit says the information was accessible to her and Chairman Jay DeBoyer “just a few years ago, yet Secretary Benson refuses to hand it over.”
