House GOP bill would require secretary of state to step aside from election duties if on the ballot

Democratic members serving on a state House election integrity panel said Tuesday that they had concerns about a Republican bill that would require Michigan’s secretary of state to recuse themselves from election-related duties if they are also on the ballot in a given election year.

The legislation, House Bill 5968, aims to protect the state’s elections from what Republican members of the House Election Integrity Committee have called potential biases from an incumbent secretary of state with a vested interest in winning or retaining their seat. 

Sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer Wortz (R-Quincy), the bill wouldn’t just affect a secretary of state who is seeking their respective office again, but also if that current secretary of state was seeking another high office, such as the governor, attorney general, the state Legislature or either chamber of Congress.

While Republican supporters have described the measure as an additional accountability safeguard established by the Legislature, Democrats see the bill as patently political, aimed squarely at Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is the Michigan Democratic Party nominee for governor, running against Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township.

Benson has rejected concerns about her being on the ballot this year and also being the head of Michigan’s Department of State — mainly by noting that the state has a decentralized election process that is run by county and local clerks, and with oversight from the Bureau of Elections rather than Benson personally.

Still, in her presentation of the bill to the House committee on Tuesday, Wortz specifically called out Benson’s presence on the ballot as a major concern, and said that it wasn’t just her being the head of the office. Wortz also detailed concerns that the department promulgates election-related rules and hands out process manuals with specific instructions to local clerks, and that those rules and instructions can sometimes change year to year.

“When Secretary Benson announced her run for governor last year, one of the first questions I began discussing with colleagues and constituents was, ‘Who carries out her election duties?’” Wortz said. “We dug into the law and found that there are actually no ethics provisions on this in Michigan statute currently. I see this as a clear problem.”

Wortz said she’s had conversations with constituents on both sides of the aisle about the ethical issues that might arise from a campaign that includes the state’s chief elections officer. 

“Everyone seems to agree that there is no downside to requiring more protections and common sense accountability measures,” Wortz added.

The bill states that recusal would be required, not voluntary, and that the deputy secretary of state would be appointed to oversee the state’s election if the secretary was on the ballot in any capacity.

State Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) was among the first to raise questions about the process proposed by the legislation, and its legitimacy overall.

“Respectfully, you know, and everyone in the Legislature here knows, that our elections are run by local clerks, county, township, city,” Xiong said. “I’m just trying to understand your logic behind the secretary of state administering elections because elections are managed at the local level. Our elections are decentralized, and even in 2018, when state Sen. Ruth Johnson ran for secretary of state, she ran her own election.”

Johnson is a Republican.

Xiong asked Wortz if she would entertain an amendment that would require any local or county clerk seeking higher office to recuse themselves from running their individual elections. The amendment would impact Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, who manages elections for one of the largest counties in the state, and is currently the Republican nominee for Secretary of State.

Wortz did not acknowledge Xiong’s mention of Forlini’s race but did argue against her call for an amendment.

“I would say quite the opposite,” Wortz said. “What we actually see is where rules are being set, and guidance is being offered, decisions that are being made from the secretary of state’s office that local clerks are required to implement. Rules sets that change without any oversight by the Legislature. I’ve sat on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for two years. We’ve yet to meet at all this year. When that rule set change came in and was proposed, we didn’t have a quorum, so we couldn’t vote.”

Wortz said that the House, as elected leaders, should be the ones making the laws, and that they don’t even have the ability to weigh in on election rules because of the way the system is set up to allow the department to promulgate those rules or set new guidelines.

State Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth Township) raised concerns about the proposed statute calling for the deputy secretary of state to be appointed in the secretary’s stead if they were up for an important office. Koleszar noted that the deputy secretary of state position is not detailed in state law, and that a future secretary might not see a need to appoint a deputy at all.

If that were the case then, Koleszar asked, then who would be appointed for the role instead?

Of note, Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie was at one time a secretary of state candidate in the 2026 primary, but dropped out after Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist entered the race.

Wortz didn’t have a clear answer for either situation, but said that she and the bill’s drafters could look into it.

State Rep. Pat Outman (R-Six Lakes) had concerns about a situation where the deputy secretary of state may have made donations to the incumbent secretary’s political campaign. He asked if there would be an ethics provision baked into the law.

Wortz said there was not, but admitted that was an interesting point that she hadn’t considered. She said that would also be something to think about as the bill moves along in the process.

Members of the committee adopted substitute language for the bill but did not vote to report the bill to the House floor.