LANSING, Michigan (WXMI) – Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced plans to expand security for voters and election workers during a news conference Tuesday.
She says the Election Policy Advisory Task Force has been created, made up of nonpartisan members including Michigan House and Senate election officials and committee members.
“As Michigan’s chief elections officer, my responsibility is to ensure that our elections are accessible, safe, secure and that the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people,” Benson said. “For the past several years, elections officials in our state have been subjected to an unprecedented wave of relentless harassment and threats, with these threats causing an almost constant strain of anxiety and stress over their work.”
Benson says threats and harassment occurred not only during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles but also during elections over the past decade.
The newly formed task force will facilitate the implementation of new constitutional amendments and review feedback on election bills that will further strengthen Michigan’s election system, according to Benson.
“We will work together to build a strong, healthy democracy that will ensure that every voice is heard and every vote counts,” Benson said.
The Secretary of State was joined, among others, by Representative Kara Hope, D-74th District, who announced plans to re-introduce a bill Which will make the act of threatening an election worker a misdemeanor.
Watch the full news conference here:
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