(The Center Square) – Michigan’s Republican leader of a House committee likened Secretary of State Joycelyn Benson to a student putting off her homework and reminded her she has one more day to turn in her assignment.
Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin, responded to a letter from Attorney General Dana Nessel that said some election information requested by subpoena was sensitive, saying the secretary must follow the law.
“If a teacher assigns a student homework with a clear due date, that student can complain and procrastinate all they want,” Smith, chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement. “But that deadline is still coming whether they like it or not. Homework is due Tuesday, Secretary Benson.”
Tuesday remains the deadline for Benson to turn over what the committee calls election training materials. She says some of the material is sensitive and available only to election officials.
Smit, however, said if election clerks get the information, she and her committee members should be able to see it to make sure training is being done correctly.
“The secretary of state can whine about our subpoena all she wants, but the law is the law, and she can’t choose to just ignore us because that’s more convenient for her,” Smit said. “We have a responsibility to ensure she’s doing the right things and properly training our clerks.”
As previously reported by The Center Square, through a letter from 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.
Nearly a month ago, the committee issued a subpoena for what it called election training documents Benson refused to turn over for five months. On Friday, she released thousands of pages of documents but continues to review others for what she called sensitive information. Overall, Benson has released more than 3,000 documents to the committee and said she will continue to do so.
