Transcript: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on "Face the Nation," Sept. 4, 2022
The following is the transcript of an interview with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson that aired Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, on "Face the Nation."
MAJOR GARRETT: Welcome back. We turn now to Michigan's Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Madam Secretary, welcome to Face The Nation and good morning. I know you talk to lots of secretaries of state of both parties as well as election officials nationwide, what are they most worried about, as the midterms approach?
SECRETARY OF STATE JOCELYN BENSON: Violence and disruption on election day, first and foremost, and in the days surrounding the election. And secondly, there's a concern about the ongoing spread of misinformation which of course, fuels the potential for additional threats, harassment and, and even violence on election day
MAJOR GARRETT: A natural question that viewers might have hearing you just now is, well, is there a plan to deal with violence? Should I be afraid when I go to the polls?
BENSON: There is- and- and they should– all voters should know that election officials on both sides of the aisle are working night and day to ensure we're collaborating with law enforcement and every other potential partner to protect the sanctity of the polling place and protect the integrity of our democracy. And it's also important to note that we've been doing this work now for close to two years or over two years, and we've been succeeding really, at every turn. Democracy prevailed in 2020. There have been, in Michigan and in other states, no significant attempts, apart from the tragedy in our Capitol on January 6, to really see disruption of the polling places on election day itself. So we are, in many ways, even more prepared this year than ever before than even though we were in 2020 to ensure that we are eliminating, mitigating or certainly protecting the system against any potential disruptions. And also speaking clearly to folks who are thinking about interfering with our elections that the law is clear, and we will seek accountability and consequences for anyone who tries to interfere with a citizen's right to vote and democracy itself.
MAJOR GARRETT: Madam Secretary, I want to put things in two different distinct buckets if I could: consternation and denialism is one, and curiosity is another. Do you welcome from your constituents in Michigan, and should Secretaries of State broadly welcome curiosity? Voters who maybe don't believe the election was stolen, but have questions? Are you open to that? And that engagement?
BENSON: Yeah, that is such an important distinction. I think we need to look at things based on truth and evidence. If there are evidence of, or questions based on evidence, rooted in evidence of, of any issues around our elections, then yes, we welcome that because the more transparency we have on the process, the more sunlight, the more people can understand really how much work has gone into protecting the security and accessibility of elections or every voter. What's really happened over the last few years is this growth of- of factless misinformation or- or- or allegations based not on evidence, but on aspersions, and really geared towards furthering partisan agendas, and delegitimizing democracy itself. But if questions are rooted in evidence, and if responses are similarly rooted in evidence, then we actually move forward to having a healthy, robust, transparent democracy where everyone can have confidence that their vote is counted and their voices heard
MAJOR GARRETT: This next question might be an opportunity for that kind of clarity. So a piece of election equipment from Michigan was recently found on Ebay. It had been sold in an auction of some kind, there's a criminal investigation, what's the underlying crime? And what do you want to say about that?
BENSON: Well, I'm Michigan and in many other states, it's illegal for anyone to have unauthorized access to election equipment. And so we have for really the past several years been engaging and working with law enforcement to ensure the security of the equipment. We immediately decommission any equipment that has been found to be potentially compromised. And we ensure that prior to every election, there are accuracy tests for every piece of election equipment, so the citizen can feel confident that when they vote on paper ballots, that the machines are securely counting every valid vote. Now in this case, we had a situation, and we're still working with law enforcement to investigate what happened, where not a voting tabulator, but a marking device, a device that's used to assist voters who need assistance and marking their ballot, perhaps may have been inadvertently dropped off at Goodwill, maybe even discarded as something that wasn't clear what it was. We're still finding out those facts. But it's important to note that that's happening in this era of misinformation where people are quick to seize on the potential for machines to be somehow insecure and our work in Michigan is to- to ensure that any machine that is illegally accessed or even tempted to be illegally accessed is decommissioned and we only have secure machines in play on election day. And again, we test those before every election.
MAJOR GARRETT: Madam Secretary, again, keeping with the theme of transparency, as you know, there is a lawsuit filed in Michigan, alleging that the names of deceased voters remained on those rolls longer than they should have. A Biden appointed federal judge has allowed that lawsuit to continue. What can you say about that? And do you need to do better in Michigan than you have on this particular front?
BENSON: We have maintained and prioritized ensuring the accuracy of our voting list since I took office, including doing a mailing to every voter in the state- registered voter in the state so that we can assess whether or not they were still in Michigan. We've also partnered with national collaborations with other states to ensure when voters move to another state, that we get that information. With regards to voters who become deceased, we receive information every week from the federal government, Social Security and other sources. And we use that information to- on a weekly, regular basis, ensure that we're tracking and increasing and improving the accuracy of our lists. Now, that said, we also welcome the suggestions or the input of others. And we've asked individuals who do present us with lists to let us know how they compile this evidence so that we can verify whether or not it's actually true. The bottom line is we want to ensure that our lists are accurate, but that we're also not removing voters who are legitimately able to be registered and vote in Michigan, and that's a very technical process. It's one that requires constant vigilance. We've also set up a website on our michigan.gov/vote where citizens can learn in granular detail about everything we do on a regular basis to ensure the accuracy of our voting lists in Michigan,
MAJOR GARRETT: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Madam Secretary, thanks for taking the questions. Good to see you. Happy Labor Day.
BENSON: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
MAJOR GARRETT: And we'll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. We invite you to please stay with us.