A showdown between the Michigan House Oversight Committee and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat currently running to replace term-limited Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, could be heading to court.

Assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast on Wednesday issued a 12-page letter to lawmakers in response to a subpoena for election training documents that makes it clear Benson will not meet the May 13 deadline set by the committee to comply.

Meingast alleged Benson’s Department of State “cannot provide such information and maintain its legal duty to ensure the security of Michigan elections,” claiming “no appropriate legislative purpose has been advanced by the House Oversight Committee in support of subpoenaing any of the training materials – let alone sensitive information raising election security measures.”

Meingast’s letter continued: “The Secretary of State firmly believes transparency in the administration of Michigan elections is vitally important. But just as important is protecting the security and integrity of the voting process itself. Releasing material that would reveal security feature information or other sensitive information, jeopardizes the process.”

The letter requested the committee narrow the scope of its request, and offered to produce “all material that can be produced with any appropriate redactions.”

Meingast blamed the scope of the request for “full, complete, and unredacted training materials” and “pre- and post-election duties regarding the May 6 election” for Benson’s inability to produce the requested documents by May 13.

Lawmakers initially requested the documents, which include materials stored on the Bureau of Elections’ E-Learning Portal available to 5,000 election clerks statewide, on Nov. 7.

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Benson, who is running her own election for governor in 2026, alleged it would cost $9,000 and require 140-man hours to fulfill the request, but changed course after the oversight committee intervened.

State Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, has repeatedly pointed to up to 80 illegal ballots cast in the 2024 election, as well as multiple courts that have found Benson’s election guidance to clerks unlawful as serious issues motivating the request.

Last month, Benson told MLive she expects to “see the court get involved” in the dispute.

House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., told reporters he’s reviewing Wednesday’s letter, and highlighted the option of securing a court order to enforce the subpoena at his weekly press conference, according to Michigan Public.

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“I think they just try to claim it’s something it’s not to help their position,” Hall said, noting that while the subpoena is broad, the main focus is on training manuals for election workers.

“We’re going to continue to get the information that we’ve asked for and they’re not providing it, and I think we’ll defeat them in court,” Hall said.

“The department has been unable to provide a compelling reason for why they are unwilling to give us, the people’s elected representatives, access to materials that are available to every single locally elected clerk in the state of Michigan and their respective staffs,” DeBoyer told WLNS.

The standoff is one of numerous issues plaguing Benson’s department, with others including a recent audit from the Michigan Office of Auditor General that found the Secretary of State is ignoring her constituents and federal REAL ID requirements, not properly administrating driving tests, and failing to properly train employees.

The report undercuts Benson’s relentless claims about her department’s efficiency, noting a sample of 13 of the state’s 131 branch offices found her office “did not consistently record wait time data for customers who did not have a scheduled visit,” with some offices recording times when customers arrive, and others when they’ve called the customer for service.

Other findings show the Department of State did not retain documents required by the federal government for REAL ID transactions, or to document employee training. Employees in branch offices further neglected to follow policies to ensure folks taking driver’s tests did not cheat, according to the Auditor General.

There’s also Benson’s Michigan Transparency Network, which she said last year would be “upgraded to a consolidated reporting system that will make personal financial disclosure, campaign finance, lobbying and legal defense fund information publicly available in one convenient, easy-to-use web portal.”

When the Secretary of State rolled out the network this spring, the feedback was not good.

“The Michigan campaign finance disclosure site is not working the way it should. It hasn’t for months,” Detroit News reporter Craig Mauger wrote in a post to X last week, one of several from reporters complaining about the site. “This directly hinders the ability of reporters and the public to find out who’s financially supporting lawmakers while they make decisions that affect all of us.”

The situation is not sitting well with Hall, who suggested last week lawmakers could soon investigate the Secretary of State over that $9.3 million “boondoggle,” as well.

“Jocelyn Benson should get off the campaign trail and fix her website. It’s a $9 million boondoggle for this website, it doesn’t work, and I think the House Oversight Committee should investigate this and find out what the hell happened to that $9 million,” Hall said.

“I mean, you spend $9 million and it’s worse,” he said. “It’s incredible.”