WASHINGTON, D.C. (Michigan News Source) – President Donald Trump is cracking down on mail-in voting and election fraud, and Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is firing back, calling a recently signed executive order “illegal.”
Neither rain nor snow – nor ballots.
In a statement, Benson boasted that “States run elections, not the president.” However, Trump’s order stems from common sense: it would establish a federal list of confirmed citizens that can legally vote in each state. In addition, it bars the U.S. Postal Service from sending ballots anyone not on that list.
Trump ordered U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to compile the list of verified and eligible U.S. citizen voters. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi would be the first in line to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of anyone accused of sending ballots to ineligible voters.
Benson’s beating drum: “Our elections are secure.”
While Benson continues to state “our elections are already secure,” the data keeps disproving her mantra. An investigation from Benson’s own office revealed that more than a dozen noncitizens voted in the November 2024 election. That included a Chinese citizen who attended the University of Michigan. That student was only caught because he admitted it to the authorities, not because of the state’s election system safeguards.
In addition, Benson has refused to clean up the voter rolls. Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin), who’s gone toe-to-toe with Benson over election integrity and the secretary’s refusal to answer a Michigan House subpoena, testified that the Secretary of State put dead voters back on the rolls after she removed them.
Benson also says she doesn’t want to turn over voter information to the federal government, citing “privacy.” However, Benson had no problem turning over the same voter information to the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) after being sworn into her first term in 2019.
Lawsuits linger.
After signing the executive order, Arizona, California and Oregon vowed to sue the Trump administration.
