As Michigan is set to see a drastic change in the election process, 9&10 News sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
The new changes include at least nine days of early in-person voting, expanded access to absentee ballots and allows to track your ballot easier.
The changes were approved by voters last November but the legislature still had to pass guidelines for clerks to follow.
Those laws were signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer earlier this month.
In the past, improved election access may have clashed with election security but Benson says these new laws also strengthen punishment for any election fraud and increases transparency in the process.
“It’s critical that we both make elections more accessible while also being mindful of the security and the process,” said Benson, “The great thing is we’re not the first state to have early voting or no-reason absentee voting, so we can look to other states and their security measures they put in place. We also work with the federal government to make sure we are utilizing all the tools available to make sure that voter fraud is nonexistent, to make sure we’ve got a secure process in place and also making sure our election workers are secure.”
The new voting rules will be first used in 2024 with the presidential primaries.
