Professor Jocelyn Benson
"My favorite thing about teaching law at Wayne Law is encouraging students to think deeply and critically about their role in our legal system."
What courses do you teach at Wayne Law? Do you have a favorite? I teach Election Law, Race and the Law, Education Law, Sports and Inequality, and Civil Procedure. My favorite is Race and the Law, because the class consistently provides a space for a healthy discussion on the interaction of race and the legal system, which I believe is one of the most critical issues affecting our city, region, state, and country.
Why did you specialize in election law? At the core of our democratic and legal system is the U.S. Constitution and the power of the vote. Election law is at the juncture of both and governs the way in which we as a country govern ourselves.
You've recently begun writing a book on state Secretaries of State and the role they play in administering elections. Can you tell us briefly about the book and your research? The book is entitled "Democracy and the Secretary: the Crucial Role of State Secretaries of State in Promoting Democracy." It contends that a state's chief election administrator, typically the Secretary of State, plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the dual values of a healthy democracy - accuracy and access - are promoted, enforced and attained. Congressional authority in this area is limited, and federal courts are increasingly likely to defer to a state's interest in a particular policy unless it is blatantly unconstitutional or discriminatory. State legislatures sporadically enact piecemeal and reactive laws that establish parameters for elections, and state courts rarely intervene to alter the course of an election. While the work of each of these entities is consequential, at the center of all four is the state entity that is responsible for overseeing, interpreting and implementing all directives from these authorities and, when necessary, developing her own.
The purpose of my book is to illustrate and build upon this premise of the primacy of the Secretary of State through a series of case studies, anecdotes and empirical evidence. I am interviewing each of the 33 Secretaries who are responsible for election administration in their state. It's fascinating and inspiring to speak with so many individuals who are literally the ‘guardians of democracy' in an effort to shed light on their role and position in our electoral process.
You played a significant role in working with the U.S. Department of Justice to enforce the Voting Rights Act in Michigan. Could you tell us a little about that experience? I worked to inform the U.S. Department of Justice of a potential violation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. (Section 5 prohibits the implementation of any election law changes in Buena Vista Township and Clyde Township that may have a retrogressive effect on citizens of color in those jurisdictions). In response to a decision from Secretary Terri Lynn Land to attempt to close the Secretary of State Branch Office in Buena Vista Township, I worked with a team of attorneys to provide data that closing the office would have created difficulty for Buena Vista Township residents to register to vote, update their voter registration and comply with Michigan's Photo ID law. If the Buena Vista Secretary of State Office had closed, the next closest Secretary of State office would have been over 90 minutes away assuming no delays via public transportation.
Our team's victorious effort marked the first time in the history of the Voting Rights Act that the Department of Justice acted to deny preclearance to an election law change in Michigan.
Election law and administration is a growing area of the law, especially after the 2000 Presidential election. How do you see this field developing in the future? I hope there is an increased recognition of the important role that state and local government officials play in administrating elections, with a focus on the manner in which they each shape and apply the laws to promote and enable an accurate, accessible, accountable democracy. There are many, many very effective state Secretaries of State, clerks and boards of elections who spend every day working to achieve these goals and enforce the law in a way that is fair and efficient.
What kinds of career opportunities are available to those specializing in election law? In addition to working as or with an election administrator or state Secretary of State, one can work with a non-profit organization, U.S. Department of Justice (in the voting rights section of the Civil Rights department), or with numerous private firms that represent candidates and political parties.