LANSING, Mich. — The Republican-controlled Michigan House voted Thursday to hold Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in contempt of the chamber and authorize litigation against her office after Benson failed to comply fully with a subpoena seeking election training materials for training clerks.

Benson has argued over the past several weeks that her office needs extra time to review some of the requested materials to ensure that no sensitive election data is released.

On Thursday, House Republicans indicated they'd waited long enough for the secretary to supply the information, which was first requested informally in November 2023 and then through subpoena in April.

"The statute is crystal clear," said state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, a Clay Township Republican who leads the House Oversight Committee. "When a subpoena is issued, they must provide documents, they must provide testimony. That has been stonewalled for seven months. We've been extremely patient."

The resolution holding Benson in contempt passed along party lines, 58-47.

Benson, speaking to reporters after the vote, called the House resolution "political games" and argued that the information being withheld includes data that could allow someone to interfere with the chain of custody of ballots, to tamper with election equipment, or to impersonate a municipal clerk.

Given widespread misinformation about recent Michigan elections and attempts to tamper with voting equipment in the past, Benson noted her office wasn't willing to release some of the information to House Oversight without assurances the information would remain confidential. She said she welcomed a trip to court to sort out the matter, if needed.

"We believe at this point a judge should come in and try to mediate this discussion, who can serve as a neutral party and understand the election pieces and the security pieces that our executive branch is required to protect and also understand in a good faith way the oversight and transparency values that the oversight committee ostensibly are pursuing here," Benson said. "That is going to be, I hope, the next step in this saga.”

Benson, who is running for governor in 2026, has released roughly 3,300 pages of documents and said she'd have to review the remaining materials for sensitive information that should be redacted. Currently, a few hundred items are still being withheld to be reviewed, and sensitive security information is being redacted, Benson said.

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Benson's office last month, but the process still did not speed up, DeBoyer said.

Last week, DeBoyer requested an informal meeting with Benson — in a letter requiring a response by 11 a.m. Thursday — to better understand the concerns surrounding the documents that have yet to be released.

Benson's office responded at 10 a.m. Thursday, agreeing to meet on the issue but not setting a date certain for doing so.

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