BREAKING NEWS: DOJ Demands SOS Benson Provide Election Data
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
Must respond within 14 days
By Kristine Christlieb, MFEI News & Commentary Editor
July 24, 2025
Officials with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) are demanding information about how Michigan’s Department of State is complying with federal laws related to elections.
In a letter to Secretary of State (SOS) Jocelyn Benson dated July 21, 2025, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael E. Gates and Maureen Riordan, acting chief of the voting section of the Civil Rights Division, wrote:
We write to you as the chief election official for the State of Michigan to request information regarding the State’s procedures for complying with the statewide voter registration list maintenance provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”), 52 U.S.C. § 20501 et seq., and the voter verification requirements of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (“HAVA”), 52 U.S.C. § 20901 et seq.
Gates, a former city attorney out of California who has a reputation as a go-getter, also recently announced he would be helping defend the state of Wyoming's new law requiring voters to have proof of citizenship.
The DOJ's three-page letter from Gates and Riordan goes on to request other information related to compliance with federal election law:
A list of all election officials who are responsible for voter registration list maintenance from November 2022 through November 2024.
A description of what steps the Michigan Department of State has taken to ensure the state is “in full compliance” with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA).
An electronic copy of Michigan’s statewide voter registration list.
A description of steps the state has taken to remove ineligible voters, and when were the steps taken.
A total of six other items requested clarification about Michigan’s responses to the 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey conducted by the Election Assistance Commission, mostly having to do with removal of disqualified and duplicate registrations from Michigan's Qualified Voter File (QVF).
Finally, the letter mentions the department has received complaints alleging Michigan’s QVF “assigns multiple identifiers to individual voters, with different identifiers used by the Secretary of State’s Bureau of Elections (BOE) and local clerks."
Gates & Riordan gave Benson “14 days of the date of this letter” to comply with their requests.
Votebeat, an online news platform reporting on elections from a “left-of-center” perspective, broke the story on July 23 after the outlet “obtained” a copy of the DOJ letter to Benson.
Reaction to the Letter
Michigan’s election activists were quick to celebrate the breakthrough. Early Thursday morning, former Michigan State Senator Patrick Colbeck broke the story to his Facebook followers and wrote: “Very nice way to start the day!”
Colbeck later speculated whether some of the information requests will be converted into an indictment list. His post generated 823 responses (as of 4:03 p.m. CST), 309 shares, and 95 comments. Grace E. Cracchiolo-Torre commented: “Hope her [Benson's] dream of becoming governor is in the toilet now!”
Patrice Johnson, founder and chair of Michigan Fair Elections pointed out her organization’s long history of investigating Michigan’s lack of compliance with HAVA. “In March 2024, MFEI submitted a 426-page request to the Election Assistance Commission, asking for an EAC Office of Inspector General assessment of audit risk in connection with Michigan’s election administration and compliance with HAVA.”
Johnson expressed her relief that help may be on the way. “It’s only a first step toward reform of Michigan’s voter rolls, but it is the first real progress we’ve seen from the federal level since President Trump's Executive Order.”
Some Michiganders have expressed skepticism about whether any indictments will actually come from the DOJ’s investigation; but one Michigander echoed Cracchiolo-Torre, “If all the DOJ letter does is help us keep Benson out of the governor’s mansion, I’d call that a win.”
Since May, the DOJ has been requesting election information from various states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. In that sense, Michigan is late to the party.
Tim Vetter, an election data expert believes the DOJ could have done a better job of crafting their requests for information. “The DOJ letter is not requesting a ‘list of voters’ from 2022 or 2024, NOT requesting pollbook source data. How do we know if the pollbook data listed on the SOS website matches the QVF and the source pollbook data from the jurisdiction clerks?”
Vetter also said, “The DOJ seems to be most interested in validating registration records because that’s what people want to know — ‘Are you cleaning the voter rolls?’ — but there’s a lot of information they aren’t asking for. For example, DOJ didn’t ask for any information about vote history records or transaction logs nor did they seem interested in the violation of federal FOIA laws when requested voter information is withheld.”
If the DOJ investigation does lead to indictments, Benson’s Department of State, with four lawyers at the top, is well prepared to handle it.
Watch for MFEI News & Commentary follow-up. Will Benson supply the requested information in 14 days?
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