LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After months of back and forth, delays, and a subpoena issued by the Michigan House Oversight Committee, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced on Friday she and her office handed over 1,900 addition pages of requested election training materials.
Benson’s office continued to boast about “transparency” and “openness” after the release of the documents.
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“We are also committed to protecting sensitive information which, if publicly released, could be used by bad actors to interfere with the chain of custody of ballots, tamper with election equipment, or impersonate a clerk on Election Day,” said Chief Legal Director Khyla Craine.
The materials released include training newsletters sent to clerks by the Bureau of Elections (BOE), the clerk training accreditation manual, and the Election Day “flip chart” manual used by election workers at the polls.
Previously, Michigan House Pro Tem and former clerk Rachelle Smit (R-Martin) called Benson’s refusal to release unredacted documents “a stain” on Benson and the election process in general. Smit did not mince words on Friday either, noting Benson’s late “dump of the wrong stuff.”
“We will conduct a thorough review of everything her department released today,” Smit said. “But, after sifting through the information for several hours, we’ve yet to see much of the substantive training materials we requested. Secretary Benson knows what we are asking for, and she refusing to give us access anyway.”
The House gave Benson a May 14 deadline to respond to the subpoena.
