Secretary of State candidate Benson promises nonpartisan election administration

Since the 2000 presidential election — in which a highly controversial Florida ballot recount was supervised by an overtly partisan Secretary of State — there has been increasing focus on the risks of partisan election administration.

A Secretary of State’s duties include managing the database of registered voters, approving ballot design, and interpreting campaign finance law, and if this work is done in a way that even appears to advantage one party over another, confidence in the election system can be undermined.

Last week Democratic Secretary of State candidate Jocelyn Benson announced that if elected she would take an oath of nonpartisanship and would refrain from co-chairing campaigns or endorsing candidates in elections where she would serve as the certifier of results.

Benson is an election law expert and Wayne State University educator who interviewed 37 sitting secretaries of state for her recently released book Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process.

While oaths of nonpartisanship are unprecedented in Michigan, she said, secretaries of state across the country have recognized the harm that occurred during the 2000 election and secretaries such as Republican Jay Dardenne of Louisiana and Democrats Debra Bowen of California and Deborah Markowitz in Vermont have actively advanced policies to promote nonpartisanship.

“The perception of partisanship is a problem,“ Benson said. “How can a secretary of state be elected in a partisan capacity and also be nonpartisan when elected? I found that the best way is that the individual take a pledge.”

Benson said that she is “hopeful and optimistic” that the five Republican candidates for the office will join her in pledging to refrain from partisan politics if elected.

Candidates Anne Norlander — the Calhoun County Clerk — and State Sen. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau), two of the Republican candidates for the office, agreed to discuss the matter with the Michigan Messenger.

Norlander agreed that it would be good policy not to endorse candidates while serving as Secretary of State.

“I think that makes sense,“ she said. “I feel as though we are elected as Secretary of State to represent all citizens of Michigan so I feel that that would be a position I could take.”

McManus rejected the idea of refraining from involvement in campaigns while in office.

“My whole political career I have endorsed people from the local races to top of the ticket,” she said. “The bottom line is that I am a Republican and a conservative. I already am partisan.”

McManus went on to say that she has been objective in her work in the Legislature, that Benson is also partisan, and that an oath of nonpartisanship would make no difference in how the Secretary of State’s office is run.

Republicans candidates Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, State Rep. Paul Scott, and State Sen. Cameron Brown did not respond to repeated requests for interview.

Academic experts disagreed on the legitimacy and necessity of Benson’s pledge.

“Everyone knows the candidates are partisan,” said Doug Roberts, a former state treasurer and director of the Institute for Public Policy & Social Research (IPPSR) at Michigan State University. “They are selected by party conventions. We would have to change the constitution to change that.”

Roberts said that a promise to avoid partisan politics while in office “does not ensure anything. If a person is ethical they don’t have to say it and if they aren’t ethical then saying so doesn’t make it so.”

The most important issue for the secretary of state, he said, is individual integrity and ethics.

“Look at their history. Are they known for ethical behavior? A reputation of ethical behavior is earned, is built, is understood by people,” Roberts said.

It is possible for a highly ethical person to express support for a candidate and still count the votes fairly, he said.

Benson’s oath of nonpartisanship, “Probably won’t do any harm but I don’t know if it will change the dynamics of the race,” said Matt Grossmann assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University.

Concerns over whether a secretary of state will use the duties of her office for partisan advantage are legitimate, Grossmann said, but, “I don’t know if the symbolic act of co-chairing campaign is necessarily a good signal about how the secretary would rule in a matter that affected the outcome of the election.”

University of Michigan professor, Michael Traugott, a specialist in campaign media, called Benson’s promise not to make endorsements or co-chair campaigns “important.”

“Many states are moving to appoint an independent supervisor of elections who often has some professional training,” he said via e-mail. “There does not have to be a problem of integrity associated with a partisan elections director, but we know from the Katherine Harris example that problems can arise.”