Both candidates agree that citizens should have to spend less time waiting in Secretary of State branch locations. 

Benson said that she would guarantee nobody waits in line longer than 30 minutes. She would do this by completing a time study to see what works to keep lines moving quickly, reducing the number of times customers must visit branch offices by allowing options like multiyear license plates and expanding opportunities to access the Secretary of State’s services online.

Lang criticized Benson’s plan, calling it a gimmick. 

“This is not a pizza delivery place,” Lang said. “What happens when it’s 31 minutes? Are you going to get free license plates? ... Every consumer wants a reward for not delivering in that time frame.”

Instead of reducing the amount of time spent in the office on each visit, Lang said the next Secretary of State should be more focused on reducing the frequency at which people must visit by moving services online and expanding appointment services.

“I shouldn’t have to see you in the Secretary of State's office but once every eight years,” Lang said.

Both candidates called for the creation of a mobile app and said their plans would not impact the number of people employed by the Secretary of State.

Freezing fees on drivers

Both candidates said that they would take on the Legislature to freeze driver fees. 

“If we’re going to invest in driving in this state, we need to see a return on our investment and better roads,” Benson said. “Until we see that, I don’t think we should see any fee increases.” 

Benson said she successfully convinced the Wayne State University Board of Governors to freeze tuition as dean of the university’s law school.

Lang touted her time in the private sector as a reason she would be more likely to freeze fees than Benson.

“Based on my background in the business world, ... I’ve worked in a collaborative team environment, and that’s what it takes to go to the Legislature to work in a non-partisan way,” Lang said. “I plan on doing more with less, finding ways to save money in each and every pocket of every citizen here in the State of Michigan.”

Protecting our elections

In the wake of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, both candidates said that more needs to be done to protect our elections.

“We need to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat,” Benson said.

Benson identified three main vulnerabilities to the integrity of our elections: voter registration lists, ballot security and the security of voting machines.

Lang said that the biggest threat to our elections is voter fraud, which can be addressed by removing deceased individuals or individuals who no longer reside in Michigan from voter rolls.

Both candidates agreed that the internet should not be tied to the voting process, but that citizens should be allowed to register to vote online. Legislation recently passed both the Michigan House and Senate that would make it legal to do just that.

Watch the full debates: