SE Grand Rapids News

Speaker Pro Tem Rachelle Smit has expressed disappointment after recent court-ordered mediation between the Michigan House and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson failed to resolve a dispute over access to election training materials. The mediation was initiated following Secretary Benson’s continued refusal to provide lawmakers with what Smit describes as basic and uncontroversial election training information given to clerks and stored on the Bureau of Elections E-Learning Portal.

“I’m disappointed the court-ordered mediation did not yield a positive result last week,” said Smit, R-Martin. “Secretary Benson continues to withhold the training materials she hands down to clerks. Chair DeBoyer and I were both clerks; we both agree that these documents need to be turned over to the Legislature so we can ensure our elections are being run effectively and in a non-partisan way.”

Smit has sought access to these materials for nearly a year, emphasizing their importance due to previous instances where rules and guidance from Secretary Benson’s office were ruled illegal. Throughout this period, the Michigan Department of State (MDOS) claimed it could not fulfill Smit’s request, citing time and cost concerns—at one point estimating 140 hours of work at nearly $9,000. Pressure from the House Oversight Committee later led MDOS to release much of the requested information in about four hours.

Despite this partial release, key election training materials remained withheld. In response, Smit secured action from the House Oversight Committee, leading Chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, to issue a subpoena ordering Secretary Benson and MDOS to release all remaining information.

Secretary Benson did not comply with the subpoena, prompting a lawsuit seeking judicial affirmation that the House’s subpoena was valid and served a legitimate legislative purpose. This legal action resulted in court-ordered mediation, which ultimately failed to produce an agreement.