Michigan's Election Oversight Crisis
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- 5 min read
With JCAR Revealed as Powerless, Federal Intervention Now the Only Option
By Patrice Johnson, Chairperson and Founder
Michigan Fair Elections Institute and Pure Integrity Michigan Elections
November 10, 2025
Michigan’s only legislative check on Secretary of State rulemaking has been neutralized at the worst possible time — just as three rule sets eliminate key election oversight mechanisms before the 2026 federal elections.
The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), deadlocked 50-50 along partisan lines, cannot convene a quorum and is powerless to stop Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s rule sets that allegedly violate federal and state law. These rules automatically take effect 15 legislative days after submission to JCAR, regardless of the committee’s action.
“This is an unprecedented constitutional crisis for our state,” said JCAR member Gina Johnsen, (R-78th District, Kent, Ionia, Barry, and Eaton counties). “JCAR was designed to provide legislative oversight of executive branch rule making, but we’re completely deadlocked. When the incoming chair takes over in January, I fear election integrity will move to even lower priority. The Secretary of State is effectively operating without any state-level accountability.”
Though JCAR had no quorum to convene or vote on the rule sets, Chair Doug Wozniak (R-Dist. 59, with portions of Macomb and Shelby townships in Macomb County) conducted two public hearings to enable the Secretary of State’s office, citizens, and members of JCAR to comment and answer questions.
Watch JCAR Hearings:
Rule Sets Already in Effect of Imminent
Rule Set 14 is now reported as “in effect,” in Michigan’s Administrative Rulemaking System (ARS). RS 14 mandates clerks to destroy electronic pollbook data just 7 days after elections—directly violating the federal 22-month retention requirement of 52 USC §20701.
Rule Set 13, which shows “pending” status on ARS, makes citizen and clerk challenges to voter registrations nearly impossible. However, the Final Rule was approved on October 22, 2025, meaning it will likely take effect October 23, 2025 or will at any moment. This rule now governs Michigan’s voter registration processes despite serious likelihood of federal law violations.
Rule Set 15 creates SOS “liaison” positions and grants them authority to eject poll challengers from constitutionally allowable election oversight. RS 15, currently listed in draft form, will become final and auto-implement after submission. JCAR is powerless to intervene as long as Democrats refuse to attend and allow JCAR a quorum. Even then, three senators and three representatives of JCAR’s ten members would have to vote in favor to pass any motion.
Three Knockout Punches
Michigan State Representative and Chair of the House Election Integrity Committee, Rachelle Smit (R-Martin) warns, “Rule Set 13 makes it near impossible for citizens or clerks to challenge questionable voter registrations — even overseas civilians. Rule Set 14 destroys electronic pollbook data just seven days after election certification —violating the 22-month federal retention requirement. Rule Set 15 will allow ‘liaisons’ to eject poll challengers. Together, these rules eliminate transparency precisely at a time when Michigan is likely to process more than 2 million absentee ballots.”
The federal violations appear stark: Rule Set 13 allows inactive registrations to remain on the voter rolls for 20 years — five times longer than the federal four-year maximum under the National Voter Registration Act (52 USC §20507(a)(4)). RS 13 also creates an impossible “personal knowledge” standard excluding all documentary evidence, plus it appears to grant Michigan’s current 21,080 overseas civilians “protected status” and exempt them from normal verification processes, in contradiction to Michigan Attorney General Opinion #7322, provided on May 5, 2023, at Secretary Benson’s request.
Critical Moments From JCAR Hearings
The Nov. 5, 2025, JCAR hearing produced remarkable exchanges that exposed the problematic nature of these rules.
Adam Fracassi-Wier, Deputy Director of Elections, accompanied by Erin Schor, Bureau of Elections Legislative Policy Director, attempted to explain Rule Set 13’s provisions and answer objections raised during the prior week’s hearing.
Approximately 30 minutes into the hearing, Fracassi-Wier asked the committee if the rules were making more sense. The committee responded in unison: “No!”
At 49.5 minutes into the hearing, Senator Lana Theis (R-Brighton) delivered pointed questions about the “personal knowledge” requirement, what constitutes “reliable information,” and the apparent prohibition of challenges to overseas noncitizen registrations.
Most tellingly, Erin Schor attempted to defend Rule Set 13 by claiming that clerks remain responsible for maintaining accurate voter rolls under “different laws.” Her statement appears to affirm that Rule Set 13 conflicts with existing Michigan election law. What happens when a clerk follows the SOS rules and violates federal law? Who is then responsible?
During the October 29 hearing (approximately 13 minutes in), this writer testified about the serious federal violations and answered JCAR members’ questions about the practical impact of these rules on election integrity.
Federal Fraud Implications
Of particular seriousness is the potential fraud liability under FERA. Michigan receives millions of dollars in federal HAVA funds, conditioned on compliance certifications to the Election Assistance Commission. If the Michigan Secretary of State is certifying HAVA compliance while implementing rules that violate federal law, those could be false claims under the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA) — carrying penalties of $5,000 to $10,000 per violation plus treble damages.
The FERA amended the False Claims Act to penalize false certifications made to obtain federal funds. Michigan receives millions of dollars in federal HAVA funds based on its certifying compliance with federal election law. However, Rule Set 14 destroys evidence federal agencies need to verify that compliance, while Rule Set 13 violates NVRA requirements and makes voter roll accuracy impossible to maintain. If Michigan continues certifying HAVA compliance while these rules are in effect, such certifications may constitute false claims under 31 USC §3729—carrying civil penalties of $5,000-$10,000 per violation plus treble damages.
Cleta Mitchell, Founder and Chairperson of the Election Integrity Network, emphasized the national implications: “When a state’s oversight mechanisms completely fail, and rules violating federal law auto-implement without any accountability, federal intervention isn’t just appropriate — it’s essential. What happens in Michigan will set precedent nationwide. If Secretary Benson succeeds in implementing these rules without federal consequences, other states will follow, and transparency, accuracy and accountability in our elections will suffer severe damage nationwide.”
Documented Violations
Michigan’s voter rolls already demonstrate serious accuracy problems that these rules are likely to worsen:
• 800,000+ potentially ineligible registrations (HAVA § 21083(a) violation)
• 558,627 inactive registrations (NVRA § 20507 violation)
• 27.6% projected inactive error rate (HAVA accuracy violation)
• 104,137 more ballots than voters in 2020 (HAVA accuracy violation)
• 70,713 more ballots than voters in 2022 (HAVA accuracy violation)
• Monthly vote history alterations (HAVA accuracy violation)
With the new rule sets now in effect or imminent, these existing violations become all but impossible to investigate or correct. Rule Set 13 eliminates verification mechanisms and requires clerks to show “reliable” reasons for challenging registrations, while Rule Set 14 destroys the evidence needed to validate local versus state data and enable federal oversight.
Immediate Action Required
As this writer testified to JCAR on October 29: “The final version is worse than the draft—more discretionary, more exclusions, higher costs. Michigan voters deserve mandatory maintenance, not $2,300 barriers; challenge processes that work, not impossible standards; rules that follow the law, not rewrite it.”
With Rule Set 14 already destroying evidence and Rule Set 13 about to take effect, we're past prevention. Every day these rules operate:
Electronic pollbook data is irreversibly destroyed (7-day deletion cycles)
Potentially ineligible voters remain unchallenged on rolls
Federal compliance verification becomes impossible
Once Rule Set 15 takes effect, poll challengers — the last line of citizen oversight — can be ejected by government “liaisons.”
With JCAR powerless, the Legislature unable to intervene, and courts too slow, Pure Integrity Michigan Elections has requested federal review. State remedies are exhausted. These rules will govern the 2026 federal elections unless federal agencies act now. We have days, not weeks.
