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Nearly two dozen Michigan House Republicans have signed on to a resolution calling for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to share the state’s complete voter rolls with the Trump administration, without redactions of potentially sensitive identifying information.
Michigan is one of several states being sued by the U.S. Justice Department over their refusal to share unredacted voter rolls in response to requests from the agency. Benson shared some of Michigan’s voter roll — the parts accessible to any member of the public — but withheld personal identifying information, such as Social Security numbers.
The GOP-backed resolution, which was debated at a hearing Tuesday in the House Election Integrity Committee, calls for the secretary of state to share an unredacted copy of Michigan’s computerized statewide voter registration list, also known as the qualified voter file, with federal officials.
“It is inconceivable, in fact unconscionable, that the chief election officer in Michigan refuses to comply with our nation’s top law enforcement official,” Rep. Joe Fox, a Republican from Fremont and the sponsor of the resolution, said at the hearing. “Who does she think she is?”
When questioned by Rep. Stephen Wooden, D-Grand Rapids, Fox appeared unaware that the state had already submitted a redacted voter roll to the Justice Department, saying he was “maybe one of the most confused.” After Wooden provided the date that the file was submitted, Fox said he’d look into it.
The committee approved the resolution 6-3 along party lines.
Rep. Rachelle Smit, a Republican from Martin and chair of the committee, said she appreciated the resolution, as Benson “has been obstructing the work of this committee, the work of this legislature.” Smit and the House GOP have been in a fight with Benson’s agency for months over access to election manuals and whether the Department of State is providing information as required by law to the Legislature.
In total, 23 Michigan House Republicans signed on to the resolution.
The resolution was first introduced on Oct. 23. Early the next day, the Michigan Department of State put out a video and a news release arguing that both state and federal law forbids Benson from sharing personal information.
“Why do they want access to your personal information?” Benson asks in the video. “Well, I’ve asked them that. Other secretaries of state, both Democrats and Republicans, have asked them that. They won’t tell us. Nobody — not the president, the DOJ or any other federal agency — has the right to your sensitive, private voter information.”
Benson, who is in her final term as secretary of state, is running for governor. Both polling and fundraising indicate she’s the likely frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
The Privacy Act of 1974 requires the federal government to provide adequate notice for the collection of public information as well as an explanation for how that information will be used. Other state and federal laws may also prevent the release of such information.
The House resolution acknowledges that concern and says the Justice Department has indicated the data will be kept secure. It also points to several other federal laws — the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 — cited by the Justice Department as reasons that Michigan could be obligated to share the data.
Other states have also refused the Trump administration’s requests for complete, unredacted voter rolls, and have been sued by the Justice Department. Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania’s secretary of the commonwealth, called the request “a concerning attempt to expand the federal government’s role in our country’s electoral process.” In Maine, the state’s secretary of state told the administration to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine,” an allusion to a similar rebuff years earlier by Mississippi’s then-secretary of state.
The federal lawsuit against Michigan is ongoing, according to court records, with next steps expected in mid-November.
Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.
