Michigan's Top Election Official Faces Scrutiny Over Campaign Finance System Delays
On Tuesday, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson faced a rigorous questioning session before the House Oversight Committee, led by Republican lawmakers. The focus was on ongoing technical issues with the state’s newly launched online campaign finance reporting system. Since its rollout earlier this year, the platform has experienced significant glitches, making it challenging for political figures and lobbyists to submit financial disclosures and for citizens to access them. Despite efforts to address these shortcomings, concerns remain about transparency and accountability. During a virtual press briefing on Friday, Benson outlined several corrective measures being implemented, including revised project oversight protocols and a restructured approval process.
The hearing marked one of the first major appearances by Benson before the Oversight Committee since Republicans regained control of the U.S. House earlier in the year. Lawmakers pressed her on the decision-making process behind selecting Tyler Technologies as the vendor for the new system, particularly after the firm acquired the company responsible for the previous reporting infrastructure. This acquisition raised eyebrows, especially considering that only one other company submitted a bid, which was ultimately rejected as unqualified. The committee also scrutinized why the department moved forward with launching the system despite known flaws.
Benson acknowledged that while she wasn’t directly involved in every detail of the contract negotiations, her office maintained confidence in Tyler Technologies’ ability to deliver a functional product under a fixed-cost agreement. She emphasized that if the final product doesn’t meet expectations, the vendor remains obligated to fulfill its commitments without additional payments from the state. A partial refund of $166,000 was announced during the hearing, tied to periods when the system was down or partially nonfunctional. This compensation had been previously hinted at but had not yet been quantified until the session.
One of the most contentious moments came when committee chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer questioned whether Benson should have been more directly involved in vetting Tyler Technologies given the nearly $10 million investment. He also asked why the older system couldn’t have remained operational during the transition. A representative from Tyler Technologies admitted that technically, it could have, though all parties maintained that the current system is an improvement despite its current bugs. In fact, some of the same performance lags seen in the outdated version were still present in the new interface, prompting criticism that little had truly changed.
Benson took responsibility for the system’s shortcomings, insisting that modernizing the infrastructure was essential, even if the process has been rocky. She praised her team’s dedication and highlighted ongoing collaboration with both the Department of Technology, Management and Budget and Tyler Technologies to resolve outstanding issues. Meanwhile, Democratic members of the committee expressed frustration over limited opportunities to ask questions, suggesting that the hearing was disproportionately controlled by the GOP majority. The discussion also briefly veered into a separate controversy involving Benson’s gubernatorial campaign announcement, which Attorney General Dana Nessel ruled violated campaign finance law. Benson accepted responsibility for the infraction, affirming that she is open to future cooperation with oversight bodies.