Will Benson stonewall the DOJ? . . . More absentee ballot chaos . . . National Poll Worker Recruitment Day. Easy to sign up!

By Kristine Christlieb, MFEI News and Commentary Editor

August 11, 2025

1. Will Benson Stonewall the DOJ?

The clock started ticking for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn on July 21. That’s when she received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice telling her she had 14 days to respond to its questions about how she conducts Michigan’s elections.

No matter how one counts those 14 days, either consecutively or business days, Benson’s time is up with no official word from Lansing on whether she has responded. If the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, then a safe bet would be on Benson ignoring the request for information. That’s been her MO toward the Michigan House Oversight Committee. On May 22, the Michigan House of Representatives voted to hold her and the Michigan Department of State in contempt for failing to comply with legislative subpoenas requesting election training materials.

Another predictor of whether Benson will respond is how other secretaries of state have responded to the DOJ. According to xAi’s Grok [prompt created 08.09.25], the DOJ has contacted 19 states requesting election-related data with the following results.

*Column includes the political affiliation of the state official overseeing elections, in some cases, it is not the secretary of state.

MFEI News & Commentary has reached out via email (see below) to both the Voting Section of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and to Michigan’s Department of State requesting a status report on this case and will provide an update when there is a response from either party.

Given the above responses (or lack of response) from many of the states plus Benson’s history of non-compliance with Michigan’s House Oversight Committee, it is likely Benson will, in a best-case scenario, keep her response ambiguous or in limbo. It also is possible she will take a stronger position and follow Maine and Minnesota by outright refusing to supply the requested information.

2. More Absentee Voter Chaos

Detroit Metro Times reported a new wrinkle in the absentee ballot arena on Wednesday. According to the article, “a citizen watchdog” filed a lawsuit on Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court claiming the city of Detroit jumped the gun and began “processing and tabulating absentee ballots last week without taking the legal steps required to do so.”

Before filing the lawsuit, Robert Davis, a well-known citizen watchdog, contacted the Secretary of State’s office, asking that it “immediately exercise supervisory control over” Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey’s office. The Department of State did not respond. The Attorney General’s office asked for more information, but Davis has already filed his lawsuit.

Clerks are allowed to begin counting absentee ballots early but there are specific rules they must follow so election monitors and challengers can be present during the process.

Davis, who has won a number of election-related cases, told Detroit Metro Times:

The simple safeguards are there so the process is transparent and there is no question that there is no unethical behavior taking place. Why the Detroit city clerk chooses to ignore the law baffles me. Why the secretary of state, who prides herself on election integrity, refuses to take supervisory control and properly advise and direct the Detroit city clerk is baffling. The incompetence of both of these individuals is just alarming and concerning.

3. National Poll Worker Recruitment Day!!

Tuesday, August 12 is National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, and Pure Integrity Michigan Elections (PIME) is encouraging everyone who cares about elections to sign up to be a poll worker.

Patrice Johnson, founder and chair of PIME, is facilitating the process.  “It’s so easy to get involved! All you have to do is go to the PIME website, scroll down to the box that says, ‘Become an Election Worker,’ and click on the blue button that says, ‘Sign up.’”

Election workers are an important part of keeping our elections honest and fair. Many are signing up to serve in Wayne County, the state’s largest concentration of voters and the location that needs the most help.

Jeff Schaeper, who recently served in a Wayne County precinct says, “My co-workers were friendly and welcoming. It was a great experience.”

Another Wayne County worker had a similar, positive experience, suggesting people have their GPS devices at the ready because workers can be invited to serve in areas of the county with which they are unfamiliar.