Jocelyn Benson

Benson was appointed dean of Wayne State Law School in December 2012 at the age of 35, becoming the youngest woman to lead a top 100 law school in United States history.[8]

As dean she established two "marquee" programs: the Levin Center at Wayne Law,[9] chaired by former United States Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), and the Program on Entrepreneurship and Business Law,[10] which helps aspiring business professionals in underserved communities participate in the economic revival of Detroit.

Prior to being appointed Dean in 2012, Benson was the associate director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights, where she started the Michigan Allies Project, an effort designed to track hate incidents throughout Michigan and provide legal support for victims.[11]

From 2016 to 2018 Benson served as CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE),[12]

In 2012, Benson joined with three military spouses and family members in Michigan to create Military Spouses of Michigan, a network dedicated to providing support and services to military family members and veterans in Michigan. In January 2013, the group was selected to represent the state of Michigan in the Presidential Inaugural Parade, the only group of military spouses to receive that honor.[13]

In 2011, Benson was selected to serve with retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the national board of directors of iCivics, Inc., a nonprofit created by Justice O'Connor to improve civics education throughout the country.[14] In addition to serving as an appointed member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Election Law,[5] she is also the founder and current director of the Michigan Center for Election Law, which hosts projects that support transparency and integrity in elections. In 2011, the center hosted Michigan's first "Citizens' Redistricting Competition",[15] providing an opportunity for Michigan citizens to access software and draw their own redistricting maps for the state.[16]

Benson developed and supervised three statewide nonpartisan election protection efforts in Michigan in 2007, 2008 and 2012.[5] During the 2008 election, she was called to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee,[17] where she called on Secretary Terri Lynn Land to ban the use of foreclosure lists to challenge voters' eligibility on Election Day.[18] She is a frequent commentator on voting rights and election law on local news and radio broadcasts.[19][20][21]

In 2007, Benson worked with several groups to successfully keep a Secretary of State branch office open in Buena Vista Township, Michigan. The U.S. Department of Justice, under then-President George W. Bush, concluded that the closure of the office would violate the Voting Rights Act.[22]

Throughout her tenure, Benson has implemented reforms in the Secretary of State's office, including filling vacancies, expanding online services, installing over 150 new self-service stations, and seeking state funding for additional mobile offices.[31] She significantly increased the proportion of services conducted outside of branches, reaching about 60% of transactions online, by mail, or at self-service stations as of May 2021, up from about 25% in 2018. In April 2021, Benson announced that appointment-only visits to secretary of state offices would become permanent.[32] Despite criticisms calling for the reintroduction of walk-in services, Benson defended retaining the system even after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the benefits of next-day appointments for urgent matters and the overall reduction in wait times, providing a more efficient process.[33][34]

In the year of her election, Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing Election Day voter registration and unrestricted absentee ballots. Benson's office oversaw the implementation of these changes.[35] During Benson's tenure, in 2019, the Election Modernization Advisory Committee was established. Comprising 27 local and national experts, the committee played a pivotal role in shaping election reform and was considered a key component of Michigan's preparation for the 2020 elections.[36][37] She also established an Election Security Commission consisting of 18 experts in cybersecurity and election security. The commission, funded by a federal election security grant and facilitated by state employees, aimed to enhance election integrity.[38]

Since 2020, Benson has emerged as one of the prominent state-level advocates defending American elections.[39] Prior to the 2020 presidential election, Benson identified precincts across the state with the lowest participation rates and visited them to understand how she could assist residents in exercising their right to vote.[40] She has advocated for and enacted initiatives to streamline the registration process, maintain accurate voter identification, and increase the number of eligible voters. Benson facilitated voter registration by allowing online registration in advance with approved identification and in-person registration on Election Day. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she initiated the distribution of absentee ballots well in advance of the election and spearheaded the state's inaugural campaign to enlist and train a new generation of poll workers.[40] Benson mailed absentee voter applications to all 7.7 million Michigan registered voters for the August primary and November general election, citing the need for equal access and health protection during the COVID-19 pandemic.[41][42] The effort was funded by $4.5 million in federal coronavirus relief funding from the CARES Act.[43] In June, she initiated a platform enabling registered voters to apply for an absentee ballot online, using their state ID and last four digits of their Social Security numbers. Voters were also allowed to submit a scanned, signed copy of their absentee ballot application via email.[44] Benson also played a role in developing an online ballot-tracking tool for absentee ballots.[45]

Aiming to address the state's 2015 ranking as the lowest in the U.S. for ethics and transparency, Benson has advocated for ethics reforms and emphasized the need for transparency in the state's government in the wake of various scandals.[46] She has aimed to enhance citizens' understanding of influence in Lansing, with financial disclosures as a starting point and the possibility of addressing dark money accounts.[47] In March 2021, Benson introduced a legislative agenda called "From Worst to First" to enhance government transparency, coinciding with Sunshine Week. The proposed measures included expanding the Freedom of Information Act to cover the governor and Legislature, requiring personal financial disclosures from elected officials, demanding more frequent campaign disclosures, and tightening regulations to prevent secret and foreign money in Michigan elections.[48] In 2023, she criticized inaction from legislators, describing the state's lobbying and campaign finance laws as "far, far behind" other states.[49]