Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson hosting a press conference during the 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference | Kyle Davidson
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told the Michigan Advance one policy she would like to see in Michigan ahead of the 2024 election, apart from funding, is greater protections for election officials.
Benson sat down with the Advance on the porch of the Grand Hotel during the Mackinac Policy Conference last week and discussed changes to Michigan’s election laws, incoming measures to protect poll workers and the Democratic process and the 2024 election.
Since 2018, Michigan voters and the Legislature have approved multiple changes to Michigans’s election system, allowing for same-day voter registration, no-reason absentee voting and nine days of early voting, among other measures.
Out of all these changes, Benson said efforts modernizing the state’s registration laws have had the greatest impact.
“When I took office you had to register 30 days in advance. Now, you can register up to and on Election Day itself, you can register online, and it’s easier to get on the rolls,” said Benson, a Democrat. “We now have pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds. I think collectively, that plus automatic voter registration has transformed how accurate our voter rolls are as a reflection of who’s eligible to vote and making sure everyone is on the rolls.”
There also are expanded options for voting, Benson said.
“You used to only really be able to vote in person on Election Day. If your precinct was closed in the morning, you’re out of luck,” she said.
“Right now, you’ve got several options to vote early — nine days [ahead of time]; you’ve got Election Day voting; you’ve got no-reason absentee. So I think those things combined certainly have put us in a position where we’re now leading the nation in turnout and election administration, you know.
When I took office, we were ranked 31st nationwide [in election administration], we’re now ranked second. And a very close second, I might add, to New Mexico,” Benson said, crediting Michigan citizens for pushing the state forward with the changes they approved.
Looking toward the next election, Benson said her biggest concern is voters getting caught up in the chaos and confusion and deciding to give up on democracy and choose not to vote.
“Whether it’s young voters we desperately need to be engaged, or people of color who are targeted by misinformation, we want people to be able to rise above the noise and still participate and have their voice heard, and that’s been my focus,” she said.
While Benson expressed gratitude for new laws to help protect election officials, she would like to see more.
“We’ve seen so [many] new laws in our state that help us to protect election officials and draw a line in the sand about what is and isn’t OK. But I worry very much about the potential disruptions that we could see in Detroit and elsewhere in the aftermath of this election, and having more protections for those folks is going to be critical so that everyone can feel safe doing their jobs,” Benson said.
Following the 2020 election, pro-Trump protestors chanted “Stop the count,” from within and outside the then-TCF Center in Detroit where votes were being counted, with civil rights leaders later describing the incident as a “terror tactic,” aimed at dismissing votes in the majority-Black city.
Pro-Trump protesters at Detroit’s TCF Center | Ken Coleman photo
In 2023, Benson announced she was working with lawmakers on laws banning the open carry of firearms at polling places and around absentee voting drop boxes. The bills passed the House on party lines in November before receiving approval from the Senate’s Democratic majority in March with several amendments. The House will need to give final approval due to the amendments before the bills are sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk for her signature.
“I think we have to protect the people who protect democracy. And we also have to protect our voters and make sure under all circumstances, that these acts of voter intimidation are curtailed, and that we draw a very clear line in the sand that makes people feel protected in voting places,” Benson said.
In a previous interview with the Advance, Benson said she and Attorney General Dana Nessel, who’s also a Democrat, were working on policies to minimize the potential for election interference and strengthen the penalties for individuals attempting to interfere with election result, including individuals who submit false elector certificates to institutions like the National Archives, as seen in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Benson said state Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) — who chairs the Senate Elections Committee — state Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), as well as Reps. Erin Byrnes (D-Dearborn), Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) and others have been great partners on these issues. While it would be great to see additional measures in addition to the rapid changes of the past year and a half, Benson said they would continue pushing if not.
While working to combat election misinformation in the current cycle, Benson said a lot of it focuses on trust in institutions and the trust that votes will be counted.
“We see a particular focus on the issue of citizenship and have worked doubly hard to make sure folks know that only U.S. citizens can vote in our elections and that we’re committed to ensuring the accuracy of our voter rolls and that only valid votes count,” Benson said.
“In all cases, the truth is on our side, and transparency is our friend. But certainly there seems to be a concerted effort to kind of cause people to be prepared to question results, if they are not results that they like, as opposed to simply accepting results even if they don’t go your way.”
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announcing a partnership with Michigan business leaders to support and inform voters. | Kyle Davidson
The following are more excerpts from the interview:
Michigan Advance: What can the everyday person do to help protect our democracy?
Benson: One: Know that you have more power than anyone else to ensure our democracy survives and thrives in this moment. So in this year, in particular, making sure you know the ins and outs of voting and can be that voice for trusted information. Become an election expert, become a poll worker even. Get involved in voting and being a part of the process.
And then secondly, think about how this moment’s really going to define our future and make sure our votes reflect who we want to be moving forward as a state, as a nation. Because we have that responsibility right now, to do more to reflect the type of world we want to live in, a truly multiracial, multicultural democracy where every voice is heard and everyone is at the table. That’s when we make our best decisions in a governing standpoint. And so on all those fronts, I want to make sure that citizens recognize the power they have in this moment, not just to become experts in democracy, but to be a part of defining and shaping who we are in the future, as well.
Michigan Advance: In a similar vein, you recently announced that your book and your hope that it can empower people to fight for themselves and on behalf of their community, any tidbits you might be willing to share?
Benson: Oh, we’ve got time for that. But I think the book is really, it’s a combination of both what I’ve seen as the chief election officer during this challenging time, but also what I found as the dean of a law school [Wayne State University], as a previous investigator of hate crimes [for the Southern Poverty Law Center] and as an Army spouse, on all fronts how we — as Americans and Michiganders — have the best shot a thriving state and country when we’re all a part of it and we’re all engaged and all warriors on behalf of ourselves and our communities.
So the book is also a roadmap on how we can all become warriors in that regard. And I think Michigan in general is a state and can be a state full of warriors for themselves and our state.
Benson to release book sharing experiences and advice following 2020 election
Michigan Advance: You’ve had pro-Trump activists demonstrate outside your home following the 2020 election. What do you think of the pro-Palestinian activists protesting outside of homes of officials like Gov. Whitmer and the University of Michigan regents?
Benson: I’m fully supportive of citizens’ right to protest and have their voices be heard, but a line is crossed when you show up outside someone’s home, especially when there are kids inside. And I think folks need to think about whether or not that’s even an effective way to achieve the ends of what a protest is seeking to achieve. And I think in many cases, we’ve found it to be ineffective and see more backlash than anything.
I know for me, when people showed up outside my home to try to demand that I had block certification of the election, it only emboldened me even more to stand firm in protecting the voices and votes of every citizen and fight on their behalf to protect these valid election results in 2020.
Michigan Advance: Do you have any concerns about the aftermath of the 2024 general election, regardless of who wins?
Benson: We always hope for the best and plan for every contingency. And so once we’ve lived through everything we lived through in 2020, where people pulled every lever and tried every tactic they could employ to get the election results blocked or overturned, we knew to never underestimate how far or how low people would go to interfere with this basic element of American democracy.
So we’re prepared for all potential contingencies, Jan. 6, 2021, taught us the importance of doing that. And we’re very hopeful that folks will recognize that if they try to interfere with the valid votes of citizens, that they will not be successful, and there will be serious legal consequences.
Michigan Advance: You’ve said that you’re interested in potentially running for governor in 2026 [when Whitmer is term-limited]. Any idea when we might hear an announcement one way or another?
Benson: I’m fully focused on this year’s elections and on 2024, and then I’ll make a decision and announcement about my next steps in the year.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson at the Michigan Democratic Party’s nominating convention in Lansing on Aug. 21, 2022. (Andrew Roth | Michigan Advance)
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