No Place for Partisanship in the Secretary of State Office

by: yvette248

Sat Jun 19, 2010 at 10:42:44 AM EDT

On May 20, 2008, NBC's Andrea Mitchell warned that then-Senator Barack Obama would have to “figure out a way to get a fair vote” because of the potential for “Katherine Harris-type” Secretaries of State to tamper with election results. That remark, virtually unthinkable before 2000, epitomizes the cloud of suspicion that has hung over every hotly contested election race ever since.

The “Katherine Harris effect,” refers to the former Florida Secretary of State who, amid great controversy and hanging chads, certified disputed election results that declared George W. Bush the winner of Florida and the presidency. Harris’s decision to certify the election results while also serving as the co-chair of the Florida Bush/Cheney Presidential campaign shattered voters’ faith in the integrity of the democratic process.  It also invited the broader suspicion that Secretaries of State, the chief elections official in most states, work behind the scenes to ensure that their political party gains power and wins elections by hook or crook.

If our democracy is to stand, voters must have confidence that elections are an accurate reflection of the will of the voters. You would think it would go without saying that the Secretary of State, who oversees statewide recounts and certifies election results, must operate their office in a nonpartisan manner. They should not co-chair any campaigns or endorse any candidates in elections over which they serve as the final certifier of results. Whether elected as a Democrat or Republican, Secretaries must make decisions based on state and federal law and constitutional principles, not partisan gain.

In the years following the 2000 election, a handful of states have enacted legislation requiring that their Secretary of State remain neutral in all state and federal races.  A Louisiana law specifically “prohibits a Secretary from being involved in any political race except his own.” I guess it would surprise no one that Michigan is not one of those states. That's why, I was taken by surprise when Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate for Secretary of State, pledged last week to take an oath to operate the office in a neutral and nonpartisan fashion. And called upon other candidates for the office to do the same.

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That stunning silence from the other declared candidates should really tell you all you need to know. It's one thing for candidates who are long shots and underdogs to make campaign-style promises in a desperate attempt to gain attention. It's another thing entirely when the frontrunner - who's been a virtual shoo-in from day one - makes the promise. When you do the right thing simply because its right, then that says something about your character. When nobody, but nobody else steps up to show the same moral leadership and sense of conviction, well, that says something about their character also.

Michigan citizens deserve to have full confidence that their elections are clean, honest and fair. Ensuring that the next Secretary of State takes an “Oath of Nonpartisanship” is a direct way to reach that goal.

My name is CeCe Grant and I unabashedly endorse Jocelyn Benson for Michigan Secretary of State.