Secretary of State Benson talks Homeland Security partnership for safe, secure Election Day

FOX 2 - The Secretary of State is teaming up with Homeland Security to ensure the 2024 presidential election is safe for everyone.

Jocelyn Benson says that Wednesday marked the beginning of tabletop exercises to help prepare for every possible threat.

"it was really incredible to see law enforcement, police chiefs, Michigan State Police, heads of fire departments, as well as emergency personnel join forces with our election officials to go through scenario planning," she said. "Essentially, imagine if this would happen. What would we do? If there was a swatting incident? What would we do?"

Benson said the planning is going towards formulating a rapid response plan in case of an Election Day incident or in the months leading up to the election.

"We (want to) give folks the confidence not only that we are prepared for anything that can come our way, but also to give clerks the assurance that we've got a plan and they will be protected," she said.

Benson said many of the clerks were unnerved and spoke about what they experienced with the rancor of 2020 and multiple challenges of the results that followed.

"Remarkably, a lot of the election officials in that room (have) been through specific threats against their lives over these last several years," Benson said. "So they were able to speak also candidly about what it was like and until law enforcement talk about what we can do differently next time so that we're all prepared for anything that comes our way."

Amid the swirl of persistent questions that linger in the corners of some political discourse about the 2020 election results, Benson said the facts don't lie.

"I believe in data, and I believe in facts, and there were over 250 audits after the election of 2020, all of which affirmed its accuracy," she said. "And were conducted by multiple different experts at the state and local level, in addition to an audit by the state auditor, in addition to a bipartisan Republican-led oversight panel in the state senate, all of whom looked into the election looked into the allegations, and affirmed the accuracy, security, and the validity of that election."

Benson also responded to questions arising from double ballots going to voters' homes or even, in some cases, applications for ballots going to deceased voters through the mail. She discusses this and also the role Homeland Security could play in responding to any threats that could arise in the rest of the interview, in the video above.