The following is a transcript of an interview with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Oct. 20, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson. Good morning to you, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY OF STATE JOCELYN BENSON: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So more than 1 million people have already voted in Michigan. More than 2 million people have requested absentee ballots. I know you cast your own ballot in Detroit, which began voting yesterday. What’s the turnout like?
SEC. BENSON: People are energized, and it’s been really exciting to see. Now we’re over two weeks out, just over two weeks out, and already, as you mentioned, over a million citizens have returned their absentee ballots, which is a great sign for an engaged electorate on both sides of the aisle. And then yesterday, Detroit launched early in person voting, where citizens could come and actually put their ballots into the machine. That’s what I did, and I joined close to 2000 others who did that. And just to give you some comparison, the first day of early in-person voting in Detroit in the August primary, we saw just over 200 people vote. This time we saw 2000, or close to 2000, 10 times, almost, as many. So that shows Detroit citizens are overwhelmingly enthusiastic and engaged, and I’m really grateful for all our partners who’ve been educating citizens about their rights to vote in these final weeks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So I want to ask you the same question I asked your- your colleague from Georgia: if the presidential candidate from the other party wins, will you enforce election certification for that winner? It’s potentially Donald Trump.
SEC. BENSON: Yes, without hesitation. I mean, that’s my job. That’s our job as professional election administrators, to make sure it’s easy to vote, hard to cheat, and that we all stand by the will of the people, whatever that may be.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How quickly do you expect to get results?
SEC. BENSON: Well, you know, in 2020 we had the results of our highest turnout election in Michigan history, within 24 hours of the polls closing. The unofficial results were completed by 8pm on Wednesday. So we’re tracking that again this year. We do have more options to process ballots sooner than Election Day, which is where we were restricted in 2020, so I’m optimistic we could see results even sooner. But I would estimate, end of the day on Wednesday, as the best guess on how we’ll perform. But that said, we will always prioritize accuracy and security over efficiency. Understanding how much people will want those results, we’re still going to make sure the process is secure and accurate before we put anything out to the public. But that said, we understand people’s energy and excitement, and we’ll be working hard to ensure those results are ready as soon as possible.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have been posting on X, formally known as Twitter, about Elon Musk, who you have accused of intentionally spreading false information about Michigan voters. He is a big supporter of Donald Trump. He owns that platform. Do you believe– what do you believe his intention is here? And how concerned are you that he’s misleading voters?
SEC. BENSON: Well, I’ll say two things. One, we know adversaries to democracy right now are trying to create chaos and confusion and sow seeds of distrust around our very clear and legitimate and accurate and secure processes of running elections, not just in Michigan but around the country. So it’s incumbent upon all of us to look to trusted sources of information like your local election official and use data to evaluate questions, as opposed to people who are running social media companies with particular agendas and who have a history in amplifying conspiracy theories and false information. So in this moment, it will be my responsibility, and really everyone’s, to look and promote and amplify trusted information about our elections so that people can know both where to go with questions and also have faith in the results. We have set up a website, michigan.gov/electionfacts, which addresses every single question people have raised, and we encourage citizens to go there, as opposed to social media for seeking trusted and accurate information about our elections.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have previously said that Michigan, your state, is being targeted by foreign actors who are trying to disrupt the democratic process. Have you been given concrete evidence or examples by U.S. intelligence about what is happening in your battleground state, like what form is it taking?
SEC. BENSON: We know that our- because our systems are secure, there are foreign bad actors and adversaries to democracy on the global scale who will seek to potentially not hack our systems, but hack voters’ minds, to spread falsehoods and misinformation. Not just to sow seeds of distrust, but to diminish citizens’ confidence in the process and in their own voices. And you see it amplifying now, because if there is enough noise, it can cause people to potentially give up and say, I don’t know what to believe. I’m disengaging altogether. That’s the goal. So we’re seeing efforts to amplify misinformation, and are prepared to, again, push back with real information, but we need voters to be a part of that as well.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you for setting the table for us, Madam Secretary. We’ll be right back.
