Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is pushed back this week against Republican allegations that she is refusing to cooperate with legislative election oversight efforts.
The Democratic secretary of state responded in a legal filing to a lawsuit filed by House GOP leaders seeking full compliance with a legislative subpoena that demands materials related to how elections are managed in Michigan.
House Republicans and Benson, who is also a leading candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, have been at odds over the House Oversight Committee’s inquiry into election procedures. The committee voted in April to authorize the subpoena.
The materials at issue include non-public details from the Qualified Voter File, computer technology and procedures for securing ballots and voting equipment to keep them safe from tampering. The secretary of state has also said the requested materials also include information that could help bad actors gain access to secure communications systems used to report problems and specific locations for election worker training.
Oversight Committee Chair Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) later followed up with the lawsuit, alleging foot-dragging by Benson’s office in getting the committee the material it was demanding. Benson’s response said her office has shared much of what the House Oversight Committee has demanded, but will not share materials without first reviewing the material and redacting portions that could jeopardize election security or violate voters’ privacy.
“Defendants deny that they are in ‘defiance’ of the subpoenas where they have provided Plaintiff and the Oversight Committee with hundreds of pages of unredacted training materials and dozens of videos responsive to the subpoenas and have offered to produce other records in a redacted format to Plaintiff,” said the reply written by Assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast.
Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel has refused to dismiss the case at the request of the secretary of state, or issue a summary judgment requested by the Republicans. A hearing date for oral arguments has not been set.
