Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Democrat candidate for Michigan Governor, said this week that “the 2020 election was safe, secure”—but that’s not what judges have said about it.
Benson touted the election’s integrity to the Detroit News in response to remarks made by Rep. John James, currently running for governor as a Republican, at a meeting in Kent County.
“As governor, I will rigorously investigate and expose past government overreach and partisan abuses in Lansing,” James said. “My administration will restore integrity, implement robust election oversight, rebuild public trust and promote transparent, impartial governance to protect the rights of every Michigander.”
That’s a great place to start. In the meantime, Benson and the media should pay attention to what judges said about her history of “safe and secure” elections.
Last summer, Judge Christopher Yates ruled that Benson’s “presumption of validity” in regards to voter signatures was “incompatible with the Constitution and the laws of the state of Michigan.”
Benson’s administration was found to have broken election law by failing to verify signatures on absentee ballots.
Despite multiple legal challenges, Benson kept Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the ballot in Michigan, after he withdrew, to help her preferred candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Judge David McKeague made a statement in an opinion of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last year slamming Benson’s decision to put RFK on the ballot.
“In defiance of the U.S. Constitution and state election law, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson manipulated the presidential ballot in Michigan,” McKeague wrote.
Judge Chad Readler, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, agreed.
“The Secretary worries that [taking RFK off the ballot] would spark disarray and cast doubt over the integrity of Michigan’s electoral process,” Readler wrote. “Regrettably, the Secretary’s actions have already done just that.”
Jocelyn Benson has since been under scrutiny for inflated voter rolls, non-citizens voting in the 2024 presidential election with their votes counting, and refusing to comply with a subpoena that asked her to hand over election training materials to Michigan House Republicans.
On Thursday, the DOJ sued Michigan and five other states for their failure to maintain clean voter rolls after Benson refused to fulfil their request in July.
“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure—states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court.”
By failing to maintain accurate voter rolls and provide voter registration information to the Department of Justice, Benson will now have to defend her department in another federal lawsuit, costing Michigan taxpayers more resources and compromising the security of our elections.
Jocelyn Benson said James’s comments were “dangerous and disqualifying for anyone who intends to lead the state.”
But anyone that judges say broke the law as Secretary of State should be disqualified from leading the state and certainly from supervising her own election.
Anna Hoffman is a hockey mom of three living in Ann Arbor. Follow her on X @shoesonplease.
