JOCELYN BENSON

Democratic congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is taking steps toward seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Debbie Stabenow.

The electoral success Democratic women have had in Michigan stands out among battleground states. In the wake of a senator's retirement, several are eyeing next steps.

The honorees include state officials who resisted pressure to overturn election results, police officers who defended the Capitol and election workers.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was sworn in alongside other Democratic leaders as she officially began her second term in office after winning reelection in the 2022 midterms.

She also wants to make it a felony to threaten election workers and heighten penalties for those who spread misinformation, especially related to voting rights. “Many have cited this as an important contributor to why they are leaving office," said Liz Howard, a former Virginia state election official now with the Brennan Center. Since 2020, California, Colorado and Maine have passed legislation increasing protections for election workers. It makes the practice a misdemeanor and allows election workers to remove their personal information from online records. “Congress must act to protect election officials and workers who are critical to administering free and fair elections,” Griswold said.

Federal proposals that would have significantly boosted security funding for election offices and heightened penalties for threatening their staff failed to advance this year.

State or local officials in five of the six contested battlegrounds where former president Donald Trump tried to reverse his defeat have received similar subpoenas.

In her reelection last month, Benson comfortably defeated her Trump-backed opponent by14 percentage points.

Only scattered challenges to certification of the midterm election have been reported in the United States, and not a single one is based on any problems with the accuracy of the results.

Certification of this year’s midterm election results appears to be proceeding smoothly and with little controversy across the country.

So far, false claims of voting malfeasance have not incited the chaos that many had feared would ensue, stoked by a mythos of election fraud that's become a core belief for many on the right.

This week’s ballot had an unspoken candidate — American democracy.

Poll workers educated voters about the process and deescalated conflict, state officials said, which kept allegations of wrongdoing from sparking unrest.

Benson defeated Kristina Karamo, an election denier who made a name for herself claiming without evidence she saw fraud in the 2020 election.

In an election that had experts worried about vigilante poll monitors and the potential for danger for election workers, voting on Election Day seems to have gone off without any major incidents.

LANSING, Mich. — (AP) — A shortage of poll workers has concerned local election officials in some parts of the country as the midterm elections approach. Similar recruitment efforts on the right have bolstered the ranks of poll workers in some other states with nationally watched races. Poll workers, known as election inspectors in Michigan, are hired, trained and paid by local governments to assist in running elections. In Flint, the Michigan GOP and RNC are suing election officials to force them to hire more Republican election inspectors. Several issues with poll workers in Michigan already have surfaced this year.

A shortage of poll workers has concerned local election officials across the country as the midterm elections approach.

In one of the country's premier battleground states, a last-ditch effort from Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon has helped her pull closer with incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

With Election Day 12 days away, efforts are already underway in courtrooms across the country to sow doubt over the outcome.

The GOP is set to have the "most litigious" election cycle since 1981, launching 73 election integrity lawsuits in 20 states on issues such as poll watchers and absentee ballots.

Campaign spending is setting records in races to oversee state elections.

Before the 2020 presidential election, certifying election results was routine and generated little public attention.

Candidates who have to play to their party’s base during primaries or nominating conventions often shift toward the center when the time comes to seek support from a wider range of voters for the general election.

Michigan lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday that would allow larger municipalities to begin processing ballots two days before an election.

Harri Hursti bought the Dominion machine to uncover it's vulnerabilities. Something he often does for state election officials. But authorities are trying to find out how the machine ended up online.

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."

Rep. Jaime Raskin, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and more will appear on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" this Sunday.

An apparent attempt by a voter in Colorado to tamper with a voting machine during the state's primary this summer has heightened concerns among election officials and security experts.

WASHINGTON D.C. — State election officials say election workers have faced growing threats of violence and harassment following the spread of unfounded election fraud claims from the 2020 election. “Election workers throughout the country of both political parties, both, have been forced to take extraordinary steps to protect themselves and their families,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It was unnerving, as you can tell, when my elections director’s information was put out,” said Kim Wyman, Senior Election Security Advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), who used to work with Augino. The Department of Justice (DOJ) created a task force last year to specifically focus on threats to election workers. The election officials called for Congress to invest more funds in security for local election offices and to help those local officials access funds already available.

A top official says the Justice Department has charged five people for making threats of violence against election workers amid a rising wave of harassment and intimidation tied to the 2020 presidential election.

Businesswoman and conservative commentator Tudor Dixon has won the Republican primary for Michigan governor.

Some Democratic candidates in statewide down-ballot races have decided to make abortion access key to their campaigns.

An Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. found that the expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election didn't lead to any widespread problems.

This week’s gripping testimony to Congress about threats to local election officials following the 2020 presidential election had a rapt audience outside Washington — secretaries of state and election clerks across the U.

A House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection is turning to former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on state and local officials to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Add one more group of contests to the white-hot races for Congress and governor that will dominate this year’s midterm elections: secretaries of state.

Out of the many election-denying candidates running in secretary of state races across the U.S, Kristina Karamo is the first to move toward appearing on a state ballot in November.

Two candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump have won Michigan Republicans’ backing for attorney general and secretary of state at a convention, clearing their path to face Democratic incumbents in the fall.

Arizona’s Republican House speaker has been awarded the John F.

Former President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to mold Republicans’ 2022 tickets will be put to the test this weekend in Michigan, where thousands of party activists will endorse candidates including for attorney general and secretary of state.

Russia Ukraine War In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) (Uncredited)BOSTON — (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among five people named Thursday as recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for acting to protect democracy. Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the awards May 22 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Moss has worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012 and supervised the absentee ballot operation during the 2020 election. The foundation said "despite the onslaught of random, undeserved and malicious attacks," Moss continues to do the "hard and unseen work to run our democracy."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among five people being named as recipients of the John F.

Five honorees were selected this year for their "courage to protect and defend democracy," the JFK Library Foundation said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was one of the more high-profile targets of political violence when prosecutors say a group of men who were angry about pandemic restrictions plotted to kidnap her.

Election officials preparing for this year’s midterms have yet another security concern to add to an already long list – threats from within.

Supporters of Donald Trump are trying to remove some of the guardrails that stopped him from overturning the 2020 presidential election.

The first major election day following a year of relentless attacks on voting rights and election officials went off largely without a hitch.

Three women face voter fraud charges connected to the 2020 election in Michigan.

Texas has become the latest state where Republicans have rolled back access to voting methods that soared in popularity during last year’s pandemic presidential election.

Voting officials, who used to operate in relative anonymity, are facing threats and intense pressure as a large chunk of American voters have no confidence the system is fair.

State election officials say they are confronting a myriad of challenges heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

An attorney hired to lead a 2020 election lawsuit in Antrim County announced his run for Michigan attorney general.

A federal judge in Detroit is considering whether to order financial penalties and other sanctions against some of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers.

Michigan’s attorney general is investigating after a Republican-led state legislative committee said people are making baseless allegations about 2020 presidential election results in a northern Michigan county to raise money or publicity for their own ends.

AP Interview-Voting-Benson FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2020, file photo, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file) (Paul Sancya)LANSING, Michigan — (AP) — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson serves as the chief election official in Michigan, working alongside nearly 1,700 local officials who administer elections in the battleground state. In 2020, Benson was at the center of efforts to ensure a safe and secure election amid the COVID-19 outbreak. It also was the first major election in Michigan since voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 allowing no-excuse absentee voting. AP: How do you combat the disinformation still surrounding the 2020 election?

AP Interview-Voting-Benson FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2020, file photo, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file) (Paul Sancya)LANSING, Michigan — (AP) — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson serves as the chief election official in Michigan, working alongside nearly 1,700 local officials who administer elections in the battleground state. In 2020, Benson was at the center of efforts to ensure a safe and secure election amid the COVID-19 outbreak. It also was the first major election in Michigan since voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 allowing no-excuse absentee voting. AP: How do you combat the disinformation still surrounding the 2020 election?

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says politicians lying about fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Republican efforts to make voting more difficult and the continued spread of disinformation leave her deeply concerned about the future of American democracy.

Republicans in Florida, Georgia and other states have seized on former President Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud to push ID requirements for voters to request or return mailed ballots.

Democrats and Republicans both see the legislation, which touches on nearly every aspect of the electoral process, as fundamental to their parties’ political futures. Republicans charge the bill would strip power from the states and cement an unfair political advantage for Democrats. It would expand voting by mail, promote early voting and give states money to track absentee ballots. Some measures would limit mail voting, cut hours at polling places and impose restrictions that Democrats argue amount to the greatest assault on voting rights since the Jim Crow era. The bill has already run into roadblocks that have become familiar since Democrats began their narrow control of the Senate two months ago.

Democrats and Republicans both see the legislation, which touches on nearly every aspect of the electoral process, as fundamental to their parties’ political futures. Republicans charge the bill would strip power from the states and cement an unfair political advantage for Democrats. It would expand voting by mail, promote early voting and give states money to track absentee ballots. Some measures would limit mail voting, cut hours at polling places and impose restrictions that Democrats argue amount to the greatest assault on voting rights since the Jim Crow era. The bill has already run into roadblocks that have become familiar since Democrats began their narrow control of the Senate two months ago.

In one of the most striking instances, Wisconsin saw both a decline in rejection rate and the overall number of ballots tossed out. For instance, a GOP push in Georgia would eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, requiring people to give a reason. In nine, it found the mailed ballot rejection rate declined. Overall, about 0.34% of absentee ballots cast were rejected, compared with roughly 1% in the primary. Just over 15,000 ballots were rejected there in November, just shy of 0.5% of absentee ballots cast and down slightly from the primary.

Republicans in key states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden already are pushing for new restrictions, especially to absentee voting. President Donald Trump has been unrelenting in his attacks on mail voting as he continues to challenge the legitimacy of an election he lost. They are vowing to crack down on mail ballots and threatening to roll back other steps that have made it easier for people to vote. An estimated 108 million people voted before Election Day, either through early in-person voting or by mailing or dropping off absentee ballots. Previous elections have shown that voters appreciate mail voting, no matter their party affiliation.

Michigan Secretary of State preparing audits to affirm confidence in 2020 election Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is preparing to conduct multiple statewide audits of the 2020 election to affirm public confidence in its integrity. It comes as she and others face attacks from President Trump and his allies over unfounded claims of fraud. Secretary Benson joined "CBSN AM" to discuss.

It also comes as an increasing number of Republicans were publicly acknowledging Biden’s victory, after weeks of tolerating Trump’s baseless claims of fraud. The president had grown increasingly frustrated with the flailing tactics of his legal team. President-elect Biden won the State of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20th,” Michigan Gov. The campaign, in its filings, asked for urgent consideration so it could challenge the state election results before they are certified next month. Pennsylvania county election boards voted Monday, the state deadline, on whether to certify election results to the Department of State.

Then there is Georgia, where election officials did a high-profile audit of the presidential race as required by state law. It began when two Republican election board members of the district that includes majority-Black Detroit, voted to block a routine certification of the votes. At most, election officials have cited routine instances of human error or minor technical problems. Trump’s own election security agency declared the 2020 presidential election to have been the most secure in history. At this point it's unlikely that any audit in any state could uncover problems large enough to sway election results.

With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimize disruptions. Voting advocates noted the restrictions applied to both Republican and Democratic poll watchers. “There are specific rules in Pennsylvania about where poll watchers can stand and what they can do,” said Suzanne Almeida, interim director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. This is not about disadvantaging one party over another.”The number of poll watchers allowed at an election office varies. Also Thursday, a Michigan judge dismissed a Trump campaign lawsuit over whether enough Republican poll watchers had access to the handling of absentee ballots.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH POLL WATCHERS? The campaign of President Donald Trump says Republican poll watchers are being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots. Tasked this year with monitoring a record number of mail ballots, partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimize disruptions. Poll watchers have been a central element of legal battles that have erupted in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada.

With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimize disruptions. Voting advocates noted the restrictions applied to both Republican and Democratic poll watchers. “There are specific rules in Pennsylvania about where poll watchers can stand and what they can do,” said Suzanne Almeida, interim director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. This is not about disadvantaging one party over another.”The number of poll watchers allowed at an election office varies. Also Thursday, a Michigan judge dismissed a Trump campaign lawsuit over whether enough Republican poll watchers had access to the handling of absentee ballots.

A family visits the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Judges in Georgia and Michigan quickly dismissed Trump campaign lawsuits Thursday, undercutting a campaign legal strategy to attack the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean President Donald Trump’s defeat. “But we think there’ll be a lot of litigation because we can't have an election stolen like this,” Trump said. Campaign officials said earlier they were considering similar challenges in a dozen other counties around the state. Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said additional legal action was expected and would be focused on giving campaign officials access to where ballots were being counted.

(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)Maceo Rhodes, 34, talks with a Trump supporter at the counting center. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)A woman gives the thumbs down at the counting center. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)People wait to check in at the vote-counting center. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)An election worker tries to explain to election challengers that the center is at capacity. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Workers prepare mail-in ballots for counting, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, at the convention center in Lancaster, Pa., following Tuesday's election. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)If you need help with the Public File, call 407-291-6000.

Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by the global pandemic. Every election, what’s reported on election night are unofficial results and the counting of votes extends past Election Day. This year, with so many mail ballots and close races in key states, counting every vote was expected to take more time. “These ballots were cast by tens of thousands of Michigan citizens who have the right to have their vote counted. Slowing the process down was the fact that local election officials could not begin processing and scanning ballots ahead of Election Day, as most states did.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said "I'm grateful for our sports partners in Detroit," Benson said Tuesday night at the home of the Detroit Lions. "They really led the way for sports teams across the country to play a critical role in providing the resources we needed to run the election successfully this year. “I'm grateful for our sports partners in Detroit," Benson said Tuesday night at the home of the Lions. “They really led the way for sports teams across the country to play a critical role in providing the resources we needed to run the election successfully this year. Meanwhile, many Major League Baseball and NHL teams also put their stadiums and arenas in play on Election Day.

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, file photo, an election worker places a vote-by-mail ballot into an official ballot drop box outside of an early voting site, in Miami. Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. Many of those are due in county offices by Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the latest Postal Service delivery data suggests its too late for voters to drop their ballots in the mail. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)ATLANTA – Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail ballots have yet to be returned in key battleground states, and election officials warn that time is running out for voters who want to avoid a polling place on Election Day. At least 35 million mail ballots had been returned or accepted as of early Wednesday, according to data collected by The Associated Press. That surpasses the 33.3 million total mail ballots returned during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Yet an estimated 1.9 million ballots were still outstanding in Florida, along with 962,000 in Nevada, 850,000 in Michigan and 1 million in Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner opened a hotline that rings directly to his office's prosecutors, who will send detectives to investigate reports of voter suppression or intimidation. In Arizona, a coalition of voting rights groups has formed to dispatch volunteers trained to combat voter intimidation and misinformation efforts. Federal and state law enforcement officials are expanding preparations for the possibility of widespread unrest at the polls. In Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a directive reminding state elections clerks that firearms cannot be openly carried at the polls. ___AP’s Advance Voting guide brings you the facts about voting early, by mail or absentee from each state: https://interactives.ap.org/advance-voting-2020

Michigan's secretary of state on Friday banned the open carry of guns at polling places and other official voting locations on Election Day in the state, a move that comes on the heels of an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Earlier this month, federal authorities arrested six men in connection with allegedly plotting to kidnap Whitmer, with one of those defendants allegedly saying the group would try the governor for "treason." The alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer, and discussions about also kidnapping Virginia Gov. Whitmer and Nessel have said Trump's rhetoric could have played a role in sparking the alleged plot. Trump has continued attacking Whitmer for her policies even after the alleged kidnap plot was exposed.

DETROIT Joe Biden has hired a national director for voter protection, a role his campaign says will focus broadly on voter rights, including the disenfranchisement of people of color amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Martin, who has a strong background in voter protection work, previously worked as chief operating officer of the Democratic National Committee and the DNC's director of civic engagement and voter protection. The push for voter protection rights has only intensified in recent weeks, after some primary elections, including Milwaukee's on April 7, sparked concern that voters were forced to wait in long lines to cast their ballots. Voter protection will play a central role in Biden's overall election strategy, the campaign said, noting that several states over the past few years have passed laws relating to voter ID and purges of voter rolls that could make it harder for people to vote. Last year, Georgia made national headlines when it purged nearly 309,000 voter registrations from the states voting rolls.

President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to withhold funding from Michigan and Nevada for expanding their mail-in voting services in an effort to avoid crowded polling centers during the coronavirus pandemic. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State," Trump tweeted. "I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!" It's unclear what "funding" Trump is referring to. Shortly after that tweet, Trump unloaded on Nevada for expanding mail-in voting to carry out the state's congressional primaries on June 9.

As states have shifted to remote voting, following health officials recommendations on safety, Trump has denigrated the practice and sought to limit access. Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election, Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. It was not clear exactly what funds Trump was referencing, but the states are paying for the voting changes with federal aid intended to support elections during the pandemic. And even though Trump's campaign encourages absentee voting, along with several state Republican Party officials, GOP voters, like Trump, have expressed growing skepticism. Democrats noted Trump seems more concerned about mail-in voting in battleground states and has not threatened Republican-dominated states that are doing the same thing as Michigan.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan will send absentee ballot applications to all registered voters, a state official announced on Tuesday, as the state prepares to hold the Nov. 3 election largely by mail due to the coronavirus outbreak. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said 1.3 million permanent absentee voters are normally mailed an application before each election, but that would be extended to all 7.7 million Michigan voters. By mailing applications, we have ensured that no Michigander has to choose between their health and their right to vote, Benson, a Democrat, said in a statement. Voters will have to return an application by mail or email to receive a ballot to vote in the Aug. 4 state primary or the Nov. 3 general election. Conservatives including Trump have said that increasing use of voting by mail could increase the risk of fraud in elections.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the step announced as the state continues to confront the coronavirus pandemic ensures no one has to to choose between their health and their right to vote. Her office mailed absentee ballot applications to voters in jurisdictions with local elections earlier this month, and there was record turnout.