Lansing — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, has sparked controversy by seeking Attorney General Dana Nessel’s opinion on implementing new recount rules just days before the election. Benson’s requested changes would expand recount procedures to accommodate early voting and require individuals requesting a recount to specify alleged ballot counting errors.
The October 23 request, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act inquiry, comes after Benson unsuccessfully attempted to push these changes through Michigan’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, controlled by Democrats. However, the committee failed to take up her proposed rules, leaving them unapproved before Election Day.
In her letter, Benson claimed the state's recount rules, which date back to 1979, are outdated, referencing old voting equipment and ignoring recent legal standards and Michigan's new in-person early voting provisions. She argued that the law aligns with her proposed updates and should override the longstanding recount rules where there’s any conflict.
“I request your advice on whether it is appropriate to disregard the current administrative rules that do not reflect current laws and current technology,” Benson wrote, effectively asking for authority to ignore existing recount rules.
In June, the Democrat-controlled Legislature passed a series of bills to overhaul recount rules along the lines Benson outlined, but these changes lacked sufficient Republican support to take effect immediately. As a result, they won’t be implemented until early 2025, after the upcoming election.
Sen. Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat who sponsored the bills, justified the rush, saying, "The whole point of a recount is to make sure that we’re getting the most accurate count of ballots possible, and we really wanted to ensure our recount law is modernized for today’s needs."
Benson submitted the new rules to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in March and refiled them on July 31, a day after Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the legislation into law. Under committee procedures, it has 15 session days to take action on the rules, after which they are adopted by default. With the Legislature yet to meet that threshold and unlikely to address the matter before Election Day, Benson insists she needs a response from Nessel urgently.
"Accordingly, I seek your advice on these issues before Election Day," Benson wrote, indicating an urgency for approval despite the upcoming vote.
Senator Jim Runestad, a White Lake Republican, has criticized Benson’s approach, calling the timing inappropriate and arguing that implementing new recount rules just before an election risks confusion. He has repeatedly voiced concerns that rushing these rules through undermines the integrity of the recount process.
“Benson’s actions are a clear attempt to rewrite the rules at the eleventh hour without adequate legislative oversight,” Runestad argued. “The timing is suspect, and Michigan voters deserve better.”
Nessel’s office has yet to respond to Benson’s request, leaving some wondering if this last-minute maneuver will go unchecked by Michigan's top legal official.
Michigan House Bill 5711, which would roll back the state’s clean energy mandates for utilities, has cleared the House Energy Committee and is headed to the full House for a vote.
If approved there, it would move to the Senate for consideration.
🚨The Village of Birch Run, Michigan doesn’t record or live stream their public meetings. They’re not legally required to, but I think it would be something good to do for transparency. I talked to the village president who did not want to touch the issue.
The USGS says a magnitude 2.9 earthquake hit about 7 km south southeast of Amherstburg, Canada, just across from the Detroit area. It happened at a shallow depth of about 2 km.
Did you feel anything in Mid Michigan or Metro Detroit?
No livestream. No recording. No transparency. So I showed up. St. Charles, Michigan school board. Know a school board or local government keeping meetings off camera? Tell me where to go next.
Thank-you for being here. M to F I send out this morning email. The stories they don’t want you to see.
SOS Benson’s Past Ties to SPLC Draw Scrutiny Amid Federal Investigation Allegations
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is running for governor, isn’t shy about her longtime ties to the now federally-indicted Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The left-leaning SPLC is under a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation, and faces 11 counts related to wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. It centers on the SPLC paying people to infiltrate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazi organizations in order to incite racial unrest. These are the very groups the SPLC said they fought against.
The Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) stressed that Benson’s affiliation with the SPLC wasn’t “peripheral.” It said, “By her own account, [Benson] worked at the organization as an undercover operative in the late 1990s, going so far as to pose as a freelance journalist to gain access to neo-Nazi leaders and white supremacist groups.” Click here to read more.
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FBI looks into dead or missing nuclear and space defense scientists tied to NASA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX
Almost a dozen scientists related to nuclear and space defense programs tied to NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are dead or missing in cases as far back as 2022, and they’ve gone largely unnoticed by authorities and the public—until now.
The House Oversight Committee formally demanded answers from four federal agencies Monday on the deaths and disappearances of at least 11 American scientists and researchers with ties to NASA, nuclear research, and classified defense programs—several of them directly connected to the space defense technologies now being commercialized by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), the chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, sent letters to FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, requesting staff-level briefings no later than April 27. Click here to read more.
Alabama boy’s secret Facebook post asking for cancer drug grabs national attention
RALPH, Ala. - An Alabama teenager took a chance on Wednesday, filming a two-minute video on his mom’s Facebook page without his parents knowing.
He didn’t expect what happened next.
Will Roberts, 15, lives in Ralph, an unincorporated community in Tuscaloosa County. He’s fighting for his life against stage 4 bone cancer, called osteosarcoma, which has spread throughout his body.
“From a parent’s aspect, you’re just getting by day to day in hopes that this miraculous treatment is advanced in the time that you’re allowed to fight every day,” said Will’s mother, Brittney. Click here to read more.
Appeals court keeps Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ open
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” can continue operating, overturning a lower court’s order that had required it to begin winding down.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the state-run center did not trigger requirements for a federal environmental review. The majority said Florida officials built and control the facility on state land, without sufficient federal involvement to invoke the National Environmental Policy Act.
“Florida, not the federal government, controls the site and bore the full cost of construction,” the opinion stated. At the time of the district court’s injunction last August, no federal reimbursement had been provided, the panel noted. Click here to read more.
Fairfax Schools’ ‘Equity’ Calendar and Its Classroom Consequences
In January 2022, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) adopted a calendar containing fewer five-day school weeks and more early release days with the explicitly stated goals of “equity and inclusion.”
At that time, the 12 Democratic-endorsed school board members also voted to decouple spring break from Easter—a terrible idea that lasted only a year—as part of broader efforts to create a more “equitable” school calendar.
FCPS’s updated calendar further recognizes several religious and cultural holidays, including Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Bodhi Day, Three Kings Day/Epiphany, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox Epiphany, Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Good Friday, Theravada, Orthodox Good Friday/Last Night of Passover and Eid al-Fitr. Click here to read more.
