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LAWRENCE – Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson today announced the Secretary of State Mobile Office will visit the Van Buren District Library’s branch in Lawrence on Monday, Feb. 24, for voter registration and other services.

The Mobile Office will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 212 N. Paw Paw St. . . .

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and a bipartisan group of clerks today called on the state Legislature to pass a joint resolution promising that no new questions will be placed on ballots within 75 days of an election. The current deadline for the Legislature to add ballot questions is 60 days, leaving only 20 subsequent days for numerous processes to take place before the first absentee ballots must be mailed to voters. The 40-day deadline is part of the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2018  . . .

STERLING HEIGHTS – Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced today that a dozen branch offices in Metro Detroit are sharing the wonders of art through a unique partnership with the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Benson and DIA director Salvador Salort-Pons co-hosted a news conference today at the Sterling Heights branch to unveil the program . . .

Washington, D.C. — The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) has presented the 2019 Margaret Chase Smith American Democracy Award for political courage posthu­mously to Ms. Viola Gregg Liuzzo. During the Saturday, Feb. 1, ceremony, the award was accepted by Ms. Liuzzo’s daughter, Ms. Mary Liuzzo Lilleboe.

In 1965, Ms. Liuzzo, a 39-year-old white, middle-class mother of five living in Detroit, saw the gruesome footage of the Bloody Sunday attacks on voting rights protestors in Alabama. As a Wayne State University student and a member of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, she participated in local protests after the first Freedom March, but felt com­pelled to do more  . . .

LANSING – Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson today announced that Zaineb A. Hussein will serve as Michigan Department of State deputy chief of staff starting Feb. 10.

“Zaineb brings a combination of government, policy and engagement experience and insight that will serve our team tremendously,” said Benson. “She has exceptional knowledge of how to work with people to advance common agendas, which will benefit the department’s employees and the many customers and communities we interact with across the state.” . . .

LANSING – A Bay City auto dealer has been charged with larceny by conversion for allegedly selling a 1963 Jaguar XKE on consignment and keeping the sale proceeds, after an investigation by the Department of State Regulatory Monitoring Division and the Michigan State Police.

A warrant was issued Tuesday, Dec. 17  . . .

LANSING - Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced today that absent voter ballots are available with clerks across the state so voters can now request an absentee ballot for the presidential primary election.

Due to the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2018, all eligible and registered voters in Michigan may request an absent voter ballot without providing a reason. They can visit their local clerk’s office for an absent voter ballot application or download one at Michigan.gov/Vote . . .

LANSING – Customers have successfully completed more than 100,000 transactions on the new self-service stations that have been installed since Oct. 27, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced today...

LANSING – Completing a pledge made earlier this year, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson today announced she is replacing unreliable, hard-to-use kiosks across the state with new, user-friendly self-service stations, increasing the number of stations by more than 60 percent.

Following a successful one-month pilot phase completed this month involving a dozen new self-service stations and thousands of customer transactions, the project will expand to replace all 93 existing kiosks by the end of January and add 57 more, for a total of 150, by the end of April. Additional stations . . . 

Contacts:

Media Relations
Jake Rollow
517-335-3264
RollowJ@Michigan.gov