Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson spread misinformation about Dominion voting machines last week, then quietly corrected herself just days before Election Day.

Last Monday, Michigan’s top election official told the media Dominion Voter Assist Terminals, used by voters with disabilities to mark their ballots, would not work properly during the 2024 election due to a “nationwide issue.”

“Voter access terminals … have an issue with the straight-party voting and a programing issue that’s, again, affected the machines nationwide,” she said.

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The issue will require Michigan voters using VATs to either select the straight-party option, or cast votes for each individual race. The system will not allow voters using VATs to select the straight-party option then override those selections for individual races.

“It is not possible to fix the programming for the affected VATs this close to the election,” according to a statement from Benson’s office.

Dominion Voting responded to Benson’s claim with a post on its website, “setting the record straight.”

“On November 1, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson corrected a prior misstatement about Dominion voting assistance terminals (VATs) that offer split party voting, stating there is in fact no ‘nationwide issue’ with Dominion machines,” the post read. “Dominion has no machines in any other states that offer straight party voting options like the State of Michigan does, as referenced in this resource list issued by the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

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Benson appeared on CNN to correct her misinformation, framing the situation as radical conspiracy theorists online amplifying a simple mistake. Her office also quietly edited her prior statement and a post on the State of Michigan Election Fact Center website.

“So is it a nationwide issue? Elon Musk, among others, just posted that on social media. Do we still think it’s a nationwide issue?” CNN’s Jake Trapper questioned.

“No, it’s not,” Benson admitted. “Dominion has explained that this only affects users in their voter assist terminals, which are different than tabulators, in Michigan.

“And so, I should have said statewide issue, I said nationwide, and that’s an example of the moment that we’re in,” Benson said. “You say one thing and it extrapolates into this massive issue when in reality it’s actually a very minor technical issue that doesn’t even apply to tabulators but applies to voter assist terminals in Michigan that is quickly able to be addressed by explaining to citizens how to correctly fill out their ballot.”

“We have no issues of people being prevented from voting as a result of this,” she said. “Ballot access is secure as well as accurate.”

Benson attempted to leverage the situation to cast voters concerned about election integrity as conspiracy theorists hell bent on destroying democracy.

“In this moment, democracy is on the line and it shouldn’t surprise us to see small things metastasize into large conspiracy theories and we’ve been working to explain this ever since,” she said.

The misinformation from Benson follows other untruthful statements from the Secretary of State. She has cast her office as the temple of truth, launching a hotline in August encouraging Michiganders to report their neighbors for “spreading misinformation.”

During the current election cycle, Benson or her office have contradicted information on the Secretary of State website to misrepresent the number of Michigan voter registrations, which currently stand at 106.5% of the voting age population.

Benson has also promoted the Trump national abortion ban lie while campaigning for Democrats, despite the 45^th POTUS debunking the claim months prior; alleged “there are no elections scheduled at this time” on the state website; and claimed without evidence that “foreign bad actors” are working to “hack voters’ minds.”

Reports to Benson’s misinformation hotline, meanwhile, have called out the secretary of state and left-wing media for distorting the facts, with some reporting Benson herself for “spreading misinformation,” Michigan Capitol Confidential reports.

“I would like to report the full schedules every day of msnbc and cnn,” one complaint read. “Jocelyn Bensen [sic] helps steal elections.”

“This is a horrible idea and I suggest that this should not exist in any state governmental office,” read another post from a Saginaw resident. “The State of Michigan government is not responsible for policing speech or opinions. You should only be enforcing laws and not any laws that encumber any expression of opinion or free speech.”