Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has introduced new election rules that would significantly alter how the state maintains its voter rolls, drawing criticism from election integrity advocates who warn the changes could increase the risk of voter fraud.

Benson, a Democrat who is also running for governor, sent the proposed rules to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) for review earlier this fall.

Among the changes is a provision extending the number of years a voter can remain inactive before being considered for removal from registration lists — from the current federal standard of four years to as long as 20 years.

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According to the proposed rule, “reliable information” that a voter has moved would only apply when a voter has “failed to vote for 20 years or more, or for a timeframe as provided in the act.”

Patrice Johnson, founder of the Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) and Pure Integrity Michigan Elections (PIME), warned that the new standards could leave Michigan’s voter rolls vulnerable to abuse.

“With 28.2 million Americans moving annually, this means ballots could be mailed to addresses where voters haven’t lived in decades,” Johnson wrote in an article published by the Association of Mature American Citizens.

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Johnson cited MFEI’s findings that Michigan already has more than 558,000 inactive voter registrations.

“Inactive registrations are ripe for voter fraud,” she said.

“Benson’s new rules threaten to make the problem exponentially worse.”

The proposed changes come as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued Michigan, along with several other states, for what it claims is inadequate voter roll maintenance in violation of federal law.

Another proposed rule would tighten requirements for individuals challenging a voter’s eligibility.

Under Benson’s revisions, challengers would need to “swear that they have personal knowledge that the challenged voter is ineligible and must specify the grounds for ineligibility.”

The rule clarifies that “personal knowledge” does not include using databases or third-party information such as United States Postal Service records, online databases, or reports from local canvasses.

Instead, it defines “personal knowledge” as “information that an individual knows to be true based on direct, firsthand observance.”

The rule further explains, “In the case of a voter’s residency, to constitute personal knowledge, an individual shall know the voter is not a resident for voting purposes. Observing reliable information indicating a voter has moved does not constitute personal knowledge that a voter is not a resident for voting purposes.”

Johnson argued that the change would make it much harder for citizens to challenge potentially ineligible registrations.

If a challenge does not meet the new definition of “personal knowledge,” clerks are not required to independently verify the information before dismissing it.

Johnson told Just the News that JCAR has limited ability to push back against the proposal.

The committee, made up of five Democrats and five Republicans, has been deadlocked on election rules in recent months.

“JCAR hadn’t met for several months because they couldn’t get a quorum,” she said.

“When they eventually had a quorum, they didn’t vote. After 15 legislative days, the rules go into effect automatically.”

PIME has formally filed an objection with JCAR, urging lawmakers to reject the proposed rules entirely. The committee is expected to review the objection in the coming weeks.

According to an MFEI report released in September, Michigan’s voter rolls already show signs of serious inaccuracy.

Out of a random sample of 384 long-inactive registrations reviewed from a pool of 542,121, 28 percent contained errors, and 73 percent of those sampled either had never voted or last voted in 2009.

The review identified “deceased, dual-registered, nonresident, or otherwise ineligible voter registrations—indicating significant voter roll inaccuracies.”

Amid these concerns, the DOJ’s lawsuit against Michigan seeks access to comprehensive voter registration data, asserting that states are required to provide such information under the National Voter Registration Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

“We’ve been asking states to produce the data of their voter rolls, to be able to make sure that they only have citizens on the rolls and that they don’t have duplicates and have people voting in multiple jurisdictions,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said.

“So we’ve had to file eight lawsuits throughout the United States to enforce our data requests.”

“One of the things that we’ve been doing in this DOJ is enforcing our federal civil rights laws related to voting, and they include the Help America Vote Act…The Voting Rights Act…We’ve been asking states to produce the data…of their voter rolls…” – @AAGDhillon… pic.twitter.com/kflrLsLf0R

— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) October 27, 2025

Benson has refused to provide the requested information, citing privacy concerns.

“The United States Justice Department is trying to get me, Michigan’s chief election officer, to turn over your Social Security number, driver’s license number, and voting information,” she said in October, according to Michigan Public.

“I told them they can’t have it.”

The outcome of both the federal lawsuit and Benson’s proposed rules could shape Michigan’s election procedures heading into 2026, as state and federal officials continue to dispute how voter rolls should be managed and verified.

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