UPDATE: How about Those 15 Noncitizen Voters?

Benson’s Bureau of Elections stonewalls FOIA; key questions remain unanswered

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson testified before the Committee on House Administration, the Congressional committee with election oversight authority, September 11, 2024.

By Kristine Christlieb, MFEI News & Commentary Editor

Michigan’s Bureau of Elections' (BoE) investigation of the 15 noncitizens who voted in the state’s 2024 election has spawned a lawsuit.

Washtenaw County resident Judi Bennett is suing the BoE for additional information about the investigation.

In early April, when Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson reported exclusively to the Detroit News that her probe into noncitizen voting revealed 15 non-citizens had cast ballots in the 2024 election, Bennett was not satisfied with the findings.

In Bennett’s view, there were too many questions still unanswered. She itemized the information she wanted and sent the Bureau of Elections a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. In less than 24 hours, the request was denied across the board. On August 13, Bennett filed a lawsuit claiming the BoE wrongfully denied her FOIA request.

“We are the citizens, and we have a right to know the details supporting Secretary Benson’s public statement that only 15 noncitizens voted,” Bennett told MFEI News & Commentary in a telephone interview.  

In her FOIA request, Bennett asked for the following information:

• The jurisdictions of the 15 noncitizens that SOS Benson announced voted in the Nov. 2024 election.

• All documentation as to how they [the noncitizens] voted, whether same day registration, early, absentee ballot, or in person.

• All documentation related to investigations regarding noncitizen registrations or voting.

• All documentation related to how the noncitizen voters or registrants were identified.

• All documentation showing that these noncitizens have been removed from the voter rolls.

Bennett isn’t the only person who wants to know more about how Michigan identifies non-citizens. After Benson gave her statement to the Detroit News, Michigan Republicans in Congress immediately sent Benson a letter, demanding more information and pointing out Benson’s data was, on its face, inaccurate because it didn’t include Haoxiang Gao, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, who voted. So there were at least 16 noncitizens who were able to register and then vote in Michigan in 2024.

Anna Hoffman and James Dickson from Michigan Enjoyer were also suspicious. Through a FOIA request, they obtained email correspondence between Secretary of State spokesperson Angela Benander and Detroit News journalist Craig Mauger revealing how the reporter’s story tracked, nearly lock-step, with the Benson-provided talking points. But text messages were also released, and they showed the desperate scramble that erupted after Gao turned himself in for voting as a noncitizen. It was obvious no one in Benson’s office knew how many non-citizens had voted in 2024, and no one was sure how to find out, at least, not quickly.

For Bennett, Benson’s April claim of 15 noncitizens voting just didn’t pass the smell test. Hoffman and Dickson didn’t think so either. They pointed out Bensons’ flawed methodology “only accounted for non-citizen voters with a driver’s license,” leaving open the question of noncitizens without driver’s licenses.

Bennett’s FOIA request specifically addressed that concern when it asked for “all documentation related to how the noncitizen voters or registrants were identified.”

Patrice Johnson, founder and chair of Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) summarized the situation: “Judi Bennett’s FOIA request is the next obvious investigative step. Michigan’s Congressional delegation, the DOJ, the House Committee on Administration, journalists, grassroots organizations like MFEI, we all want more information about how Benson conducted her review of the voter rolls for noncitizen voters. It is in the public interest to provide those details.”

Reason for Denial

On the same day Bennett sent her request, BoE FOIA coordinator Sherri Hines denied the request in its entirety. The form response justified the blanket denial saying the request would “interfere with law enforcement proceedings” and would discourage frank conversation.

In both instances, the BoE is required to provide additional information about its denial to legitimize the decision. It did not do so.

On September 11, nearly a year ago, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson testified under oath before the U.S. Committee on House Administration. Benson was one of six secretaries of state invited to testify.

After opening statements from the six secretaries of state, members of the committee were allowed to ask questions. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) said he’s heard “the amount of non-citizens voting is not really significant.” He then asked, “What is the red line? . . .  what is the number that we think makes it significant? What is the number that would require the federal government to implement policies to prevent non-citizens from voting in our elections.”

In Benson’s response, she agreed with the other secretaries of state there should be zero tolerance, but then went on to say:

There’s no evidence that non-citizens are voting. If they were it would be easy to prove since voting records are public. And despite numerous organizations spending a lot of money to try to convince people that non-citizens are voting, none of these groups have actually been able to provide any evidence of it.

Less than eight weeks later, when Gao voted in Ann Arbor, Jocelyn Benson found out she was wrong, and yet her Bureau of Elections continues to deny citizens access to relevant information about noncitizens voting.

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