Waterford Today

Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly), a former Michigan Secretary of State and Oakland County Clerk, recently spoke on WJR’s "The Paul W. Smith Show" about her growing concerns as she has watched the handling of the lead-up to the November election under the leadership of current Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

When Smith asked Johnson if she was glad to not be the secretary of state facing this election, she replied, “I can’t tell you how much I would like to be secretary of state right now."

Benson has taken a number of actions that leave too many holes in the system, Johnson told Smith. Those actions have left the process open for operatives from either party to game the system.

Sen. Ruth Johnson | #MiSenateGOP

Ultimately, those mistakes could lead to an election that is decided by attorneys and judges, rather than by voters, she said.

"I’m very, very concerned for our system,” Johnson told Smith.

Benson’s office sent out an estimated 800,000 prefilled absentee ballot request forms, many of them going to people who are not eligible to vote in Michigan, such as those flagged in the system as having taken up residency in another state and having surrendered their Michigan drivers license, Johnson told Smith.

"Some of her unilateral decisions are so reckless, they have put gaping holes in the integrity of our system, the size of the Grand Canyon,” she said on the radio program. “I wish I could be there to help fix it -- and I’ve asked her to fix it.”

Johnson said that, in her capacity chairing Michigan's Senate Elections Reform Committee, she has championed no-reason absentee ballots to permit residents to vote by mail, but that she has placed just as much emphasis on ensuring that the process has the safeguards that are needed to ensure a fair election.