{"id":2329101,"date":"2024-08-22T10:49:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T14:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-elections-chief-tries-to-rush-potentially-illegal-election-rules\/"},"modified":"2024-08-22T10:54:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T14:54:27","slug":"mi-elections-chief-tries-to-rush-potentially-illegal-election-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-elections-chief-tries-to-rush-potentially-illegal-election-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"MI Elections Chief Tries To Rush Potentially &#8216;Illegal&#8217; Election Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmi-elections-chief-tries-to-rush-potentially-illegal-election-rules%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2329101&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson \u200dis facing scrutiny\u200d for attempting to implement new election rules linked to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/north-carolina-senate-sends-bill-banning-abortions-based-on-down-syndrome-sex-race-to-governors-desk\/\" title=\"North Carolina Senate Sends Bill Banning Abortions Based On Down Syndrome, Sex, Race, To Governor\u2019s Desk\">recently passed legislation<\/a> (Senate Bill 603) ahead of the November 2024 general election, even though the law is not set to take\u200b effect until\u200d next year. SB\u200d 603, signed by Democratic Governor Gretchen \u2063Whitmer,\u2064 reorganizes election laws and delineates the powers \u2062of state election officials. Despite the ongoing \u200clegislative session,\u2063 Benson\u2019s office is pushing \u2064for rules concerning election recounts that significantly limit recount opportunities and reconfigure the authority of\u200c canvassers.<\/p>\n<p>The rules \u2064were submitted for public comment shortly before the\u200d bill \u200cwas signed and have garnered approval from a bipartisan Board of \u2062State Canvassers. Critics, including \u2063Michigan Fair \u200bElections \u200cfounder Patrice\u200d Johnson, argue that\u2064 these rules centralize electoral power and diminish the \u2063decentralized nature of Michigan&#8217;s election system. <\/p>\n<p>Further \u200bconcerns have been raised regarding a second set of rules focused on electronic voting systems, lacking adequate security protocols according \u200cto former state senator Patrick Colbeck. The Republican National Committee has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amazon-labor-union-president-celebrates-hamas-attacks\/\" title=\"Amazon Union President Praises Hamas Attacks\">threatened legal\u2063 action<\/a> \u200dagainst Benson, asserting her actions are illegal and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stacey-abrams-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize\/\" title=\"Stacey Abrams Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize\">undermine election integrity<\/a>. They claim her \u200cpush for new regulations before the effective\u200c date of\u2062 SB 603 represents a \u200dcontinued overreach.<\/p>\n<p>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oregon-republicans-file-for-reelection-despite-possible-disqualification\/\" title=\"Oregon Republicans seek reelection despite potential disqualification.\">situation reflects ongoing tensions<\/a> in Michigan\u2019s political\u2063 landscape, \u200dwith \u2063accusations of undermining election safeguards in\u200d the lead-up to a crucial presidential election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After Michigan&rsquo;s Democrat-led legislature <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2023-SB-0603\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed<\/a> sweeping changes to Michigan elections, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is attempting to implement corresponding potentially &ldquo;illegal&rdquo; new rules before the November general election, even though the law isn&rsquo;t set to go into effect until next year.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Bill 603 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2023-2024\/billenrolled\/Senate\/pdf\/2023-SNB-0603.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SB 603<\/a>), which acts in part to &ldquo;reorganize, consolidate, and add to the election laws,&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;provide for election officials and prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, state agencies, and state and local officials and employees,&rdquo; was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/whitmer\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/07\/08\/gov-whitmer-signs-bipartisan-bills-honoring-blue-star-mothers-protecting-fair-and-free-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed<\/a> into law by Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The bill&rsquo;s effective date is 91 days <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2023-2024\/publicact\/pdf\/2024-PA-0074.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">after<\/a> the final adjournment of the 2024 regular session. Because the legislative session is still ongoing, the bill will not go into effect until well beyond the November election. Nonetheless, confident of the bill&rsquo;s passage and eager to expedite implementation, Benson&rsquo;s office already had a first set of rules relating to the conduct of election recounts in the can and ready for public comment before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer even signed SB 603 into law on July 8.<\/p>\n<p>A mandatory hearing for comment on this set of <a href=\"https:\/\/ars.apps.lara.state.mi.us\/Transaction\/RFRTransaction?TransactionID=1525\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rules<\/a> &mdash; which reflect the new law&rsquo;s provisions drastically limiting the opportunity for recounts, the definition of fraud, and the ability of canvassers to investigate &mdash; was set for<a href=\"https:\/\/ars.apps.lara.state.mi.us\/Transaction\/DownloadFile?FileName=NoPHForm_2024-18_ST.pdf&amp;FileType=NoPHForm&amp;TransactionID=1525&amp;EffectiveDate=Pending&amp;ReturnHTML=True\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> June 17<\/a>. The SB 603 rules were then also sent to Michigan&rsquo;s Board of State Canvassers for approval.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The board, composed of two Republicans and two Democrats appointed by Gov. Whitmer, gave the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/sos\/-\/media\/Project\/Websites\/sos\/BSC-Meeting-Minutes\/BSC-Meeting-Minutes-2024\/July-19-2024-BSC-Draft-Minutes.pdf?rev=742036c386294e5fad526e522b11c288&amp;hash=524A8B949ACF4C14674A051B095ADE00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">green light<\/a> to Benson&rsquo;s rules within two weeks of the bill being signed into law. Neither of the Republicans, Richard Houskamp and Anthony Daunt, responded to a request for comment regarding the approval of the rules.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The new board-approved rules regarding the conduct of election recounts concentrate power at the state and county levels. Michigan Fair Elections Founder Patrice Johnson noted this potential danger.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The strength of our election system is that it is decentralized. This is an effort to centralize and move these activities to the county level,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s only one reason they want to implement these rules early. They want to eliminate the risk of effective recount.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The hearing for a second set of <a href=\"https:\/\/ars.apps.lara.state.mi.us\/Transaction\/RFRTransaction?TransactionID=1526\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rules<\/a>, focusing on electronic voting systems, was scheduled for last <a href=\"https:\/\/ars.apps.lara.state.mi.us\/Transaction\/DownloadFile?FileName=NoPHForm_2024-19_ST.pdf&amp;FileType=NoPHForm&amp;TransactionID=1526&amp;EffectiveDate=Pending&amp;ReturnHTML=True\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Friday<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In his prepared remarks for the hearing which he shared with the Elections and Campaign Finance Committee, former state senator for Michigan&rsquo;s 7th District and Republican Patrick Colbeck pointed out that &ldquo;there is notably zero mention of best practices regarding security protocols for electronic systems,&rdquo; and that there are &ldquo;zero references to their digital record equivalents such as user account, device access or network security protocols.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Colbeck, in addition to his service in state government, is the author of the book, <em>The 2020 Coup: What Happened. What We Can Do<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It appeared to be a rubber stamp for their [Secretary of State&rsquo;s] rules,&rdquo; Colbeck told me in the days following Friday&rsquo;s hearing. &ldquo;I submitted 126 pages of revisions; and if they aren&rsquo;t adopted into the rules, they will likely be introduced as a court exhibit in a lawsuit. They&rsquo;ve demonstrated a predisposition to ignoring the law, and we need to hold them accountable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Benson&rsquo;s History of Overreach and Dirty Tricks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In an effort to stop Benson from implementing the first set of rules related to the conduct of election recounts ahead of November, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has threatened legal action. In an Aug. 7 communication, Luke Bunting of the RNC Election Integrity Counsel told Benson to &ldquo;cease any attempt to adopt the proposed administrative ruleset &hellip; before the upcoming general election on November 5, 2024, or any other time prior to the effective date of Senate Bill 603, the statutory framework the proposed ruleset is designed to implement.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The disastrous SB 603 bill, which should never have been signed into law, does not go into effect until next year,&rdquo; Gineen Bresso, Election Integrity Director for the RNC and Trump Campaign, told me in a statement. &ldquo;Yet Jocelyn Benson has decided she can operate above and outside existing law, ram through illegal changes, and further&nbsp;weaken the remaining safeguards in Michigan.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is no surprise that Jocelyn Benson has lived up to her record undermining election integrity and it is no coincidence that she is pushing these new regulations right before the presidential election,&rdquo; Bresso continued. &ldquo;We have demanded an immediate end to this brazen attack on Michigan&rsquo;s elections, and will pursue every avenue to ensure she follows the law.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Benson holds a record for administrative overreach. She has lost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/498855479\/Genetski-v-Benson-No-20-216-MM-in-the-Court-of-Claims-for-the-State-of-Michigan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">multiple<\/a> election-related <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/michigan-secretary-of-state-becomes-a-six-time-loser-in-election-administration-lawsuits-5525132?welcomeuser=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuits<\/a>, making her one of the state&rsquo;s biggest legal losers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the most <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/31\/michigan-judge-shuts-down-secretary-of-states-lax-ballot-signature-guidance-for-good\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent case<\/a>, Benson issued &ldquo;guidelines&rdquo; to the state&rsquo;s clerks, telling them to presume validity of the signatures on all absentee ballots. The RNC sued Benson and won, and a Michigan Court of Claims judge ordered Benson to remove the presumption of signature validity language from the clerks&rsquo; guidelines. However, for the 2024 presidential primary in February, those guidelines had already been in effect.<\/p>\n<p>Benson&rsquo;s office did not respond when asked about the RNC&rsquo;s allegations regarding the push to implement the new rules. <\/p>\n<p>The RNC has a track record of legal victory over Benson, but there&rsquo;s no guarantee a legal remedy to this latest example of administrative overreach will come in time for the election. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This secretary of state has made it a pattern to make rules that violate the law,&rdquo; Michigan State Sen. Ruth Johnson, a Republican and former Michigan secretary of state, said of Benson in a statement to me. &ldquo;Unfortunately, often by the time courts strike these rules down they&rsquo;ve already been in force for an election. It&rsquo;s gaming the system really.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Kristine Christlieb is a senior correspondent for Michigan Fair Elections.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the passage of significant changes to Michigan&#8217;s election laws by the Democrat-controlled legislature, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is trying to enforce new rules that may be deemed &#8220;illegal&#8221; ahead of the November general election, despite the fact that these laws will not take effect until next year. Senate Bill 603 (SB 603), which aims to &#8220;reorganize, consolidate, and expand election laws,&#8221; as well as define the roles and responsibilities of various state departments and officials, was signed into law by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer last month. The bill is set to become effective 91 days after the conclusion of the 2024 regular legislative session; therefore, it won&#8217;t be in effect before November&#8217;s elections. Nevertheless, anticipating its approval and eager for swift implementation, Benson\u2019s office had already prepared a preliminary set of rules regarding election recounts for public comment even before Governor Whitmer signed SB 603 on July 8.<\/p>\n<p>A mandatory public hearing on these rules\u2014designed to significantly restrict recount opportunities and redefine fraud\u2014was scheduled for June 17. These proposed regulations were subsequently submitted to Michigan\u2019s Board of State Canvassers for approval. The board consists of two Republicans and two Democrats appointed by Governor Whitmer; they approved Benson\u2019s rules within two weeks after SB 603 was enacted. Neither Republican member responded when asked about their decision.<\/p>\n<p>The newly approved regulations centralize authority at both state and county levels concerning election recounts\u2014a move that raises concerns according to Patrice Johnson from Michigan Fair Elections. She stated that this shift undermines the decentralized nature essential for a robust electoral system: \u201cThere\u2019s only one reason they want to implement these rules early: They want to eliminate any chance for effective recounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A second hearing focused on electronic voting systems took place last Friday. During this session, former state senator Patrick Colbeck criticized the lack of security protocols mentioned in relation to electronic systems in his remarks shared with the Elections and Campaign Finance Committee.<\/p>\n<p>In response to Benson&#8217;s push for early rule implementation regarding recounts ahead of November elections, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has threatened legal action against her efforts. In an August communication from RNC Election Integrity Counsel Luke Bunting, he urged her not to adopt any proposed administrative rules prior to their official effective date following SB 603.<\/p>\n<p>Gineen Bresso from RNC expressed strong disapproval over what she termed illegal changes being made by Benson: \u201cIt is no surprise that Jocelyn Benson has lived up to her record undermining election integrity&#8230; We have demanded an immediate end&#8230;and will pursue every avenue necessary.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Benson has faced criticism due to a history marked by administrative overreach; she has lost several lawsuits related directly or indirectly to elections in Michigan. In one recent case involving absentee ballot signature guidelines\u2014which she had instructed clerks should presume valid\u2014the RNC successfully sued her leading a judge ruling against those guidelines just before they were applied during primary elections.<\/p>\n<p>Benson&#8217;s office did not respond when approached about allegations surrounding her attempts at implementing new regulations prematurely. While there have been past legal victories against her actions from RNC representatives like Senator Ruth Johnson\u2014who noted how such rule-making often occurs just before elections\u2014it remains uncertain whether timely legal remedies can be secured this time around<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3334,"featured_media":2329102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-22-at-9.01.38%E2%80%AFAM-e1724331820553.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[32644,38948,38947,37975],"class_list":["post-2329101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-election-integrity","tag-illegal-election-rules","tag-mi-elections-chief","tag-michigan-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-22-at-9.01.38%E2%80%AFAM-e1724331820553.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2329101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2329101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2329101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2329102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2329101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2329101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2329101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}