Michigan partially denies RNC request for personal information of poll workers

The Michigan Department of State will provide redacted records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Republican National Committee for the personal information of everyone who has expressed an interest in becoming a poll worker in Michigan this year. 

“Our response to the RNC’s FOIA provides available information responsive to their inquiry. It also redacts personal and private information of citizens who signed up to serve their communities to protect them from potential threats or harassment,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is also a Democratic candidate for governor, said in a press release. 

A copy of the FOIA response letter sent to the RNC was attached to the press release, which noted that the original request was for “Any and all Democracy MVP Election Worker Interest Forms submitted after January 1, 2026.”

Democracy MVP is the state’s official, nonpartisan poll worker recruitment program. The department’s response to the request noted that any individual who submits an interest form — which includes personal information such as age and address, as well as logistical information like the distance an individual is willing to travel — joins a pool of potential election workers. The form also asks prospective poll workers to share their political affiliation. It notes that “under law, election clerks in Michigan must staff a balance of election workers who affiliate with differing political parties for certain positions.”

The department’s response to the RNC’s request notes that shielding the identity of election workers is “essential to protecting the person’s privacy and preventing an unwarranted invasion of privacy and/or threats to election workers’ physical safety/security,” and that revealing those identities does not contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of election operations in the state and does discourage others from volunteering as election workers.

The department granted the request for the interest forms, but redacted the personal identification information for each individual. 

“As always, we welcome requests for information about Michigan’s secure, fair and accurate elections,” Benson continued. “We draw the line, however, at sharing anything private that someone could use to threaten, bully, doxx or harass the bipartisan professionals who administer them.”

The RNC official who filed the FOIA request did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the department’s response. If a response is received, this story will be updated.

This request is the latest in a series of attempts by Republican officials to gain information about and exert control over Michigan’s elections — including a blocked U.S. Department of Justice request for Michigan’s unredacted voter rolls, a halted executive order from President Donald Trump to challenge states’ control of election administration, and a plan from the DOJ to put federal election monitors in three Michigan cities.