Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson testified before a U.S. Senate Committee last week, advocating for increased election security ahead of the 2024 contest.
Benson spoke before the Senate Rules Committee last week with four other election officials from across the country in a hearing on the administration of upcoming elections.
Michigan’s top election official said the last few years have provided many reasons for optimism for the strength of the Democratic process — a rise in voter turnout in 2020 and 2022 and expansion of voting options with the implementation of early in-person voting and permanent absentee voter rolls.
But Benson stressed that the 2024 election cycle has the potential for new types of attacks on the legitimacy of the country’s institutions.
“We go into this election cycle expecting bad actors to use misinformation turbocharged through AI to divide, deceive and deter voter participation throughout our country,” she said. “AI introduces a level of speed, scale and sophistication that is difficult for under-resourced state agencies to handle on our own. Federal funds help us to support and bolster our state cybersecurity infrastructure and do more voter education to address this evolving threat.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., highlighted legislation previously passed in Michigan restricting the use of AI “deep fakes” — footage impersonating an individual without their consent — as a model for other states or the federal level. Benson said that Michigan was “doing their part” with the legislation.
Benson stressed that election workers must feel safe conducting their jobs, following increased threats after the 2020 election and unfounded claims of widescale fraud by former President Donald Trump.
“Election officials are professionals. We are nonpartisan,” she said. “We put voters first and we are firmly committed to ensuring every citizen can have rightly placed faith in their vote and in our elections. It should be your highest priority to ensure we have the funding, the resources and the legal protections to make democracy work for everyone.”
Following the hearing, Benson shared her support for funding for the Election Assistance Commission, an independent federal body providing voluntary voting system standards, technological assistance and grants to state and local election officials. President Joe Biden has called for the EAC to receive $5 billion to distribute through election grants over the next decade, including $1.625 billion in 2025.
The ask is part of the President’s 2025 budget proposal, which will likely have to be scaled back to pass through the Republican-controlled House.
Benson said in a statement that the widescale issues of misleading information, threats to election worker security and artificial intelligence require a significant investment to combat.
“These issues demonstrate why election security funding is more important now than ever before,” Benson said. “These are nation-scale problems, and they require a nation-scale response.”
The Election Infrastructure Initiative, a nonpartisan organization advocating for increased election funding, said they supported the proposal.
“Once again, the White House has demonstrated they understand the need for long-term, sustained investment of federal funding for local election departments,” the statement read. “This funding helps local election departments afford the basic needs that support secure, accessible elections, from secure facilities to voting equipment and adequate staff.”
