On behalf of the Committee on House Administration, Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., is asking Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to clarify to local clerks that state party-appointed observers, also called challengers, are permitted to monitor the initial stage of mail-in ballot processing, and her office is ignoring the request.
In his Sept. 13 letter to Benson following her testimony at the committee’s Sept. 11 hearing on American confidence in elections, Steil asked Benson for clarification because, he wrote, “it is the Committee’s understanding that at least some clerk offices believe challengers have no right to be present during the initial processing of mail ballots and signature verification.” Steil gave Benson a deadline of Sept. 23, 2024, to “confirm and communicate to the various clerk offices that challengers are permitted to observe initial processing of mail ballots and signature verification.”
Benson’s office responded by the deadline, but did not say it would be issuing the requested clarification to clerks. In an email statement, Steil said, “I was disappointed by the lack of information provided by the Michigan Secretary of State’s office in response to my letter. Americans deserve secure and fair elections. I will be following up to ensure we receive a fulsome response.”
The Point of Contention
Michigan has a two-step process for mail-in ballots. First, the city and township clerk offices receive and process the mail-in ballots, examining them on three levels. Is the elector (the person voting) properly registered to vote? When was the ballot received? Can the signature on the ballot be verified? The second step in mail-in ballot processing is tabulating the
