A glitch exists in some types of Dominion voting machines, according to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Voters who use a Dominion ICX Voter Assist Terminal (VAT) will experience an issue if they want to vote for candidates of both parties, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said, according to WLNS-TV.
A voter assist terminal helps people with disabilities cast their ballots.
“Yeah, this is a nationwide issue with Dominion voter access terminals in, in the counties that use them in the voter access terminals,” Benson said.
“Of course, not all the machines, just the ones that are accessible, have an issue. With the straight-party voting and a programming issue, that’s again affected the machines nationwide,” she added.
Benson said the issue emerged too late to be fixed.
“I think all of us who used Dominion machines were unhappy to learn about this during the testing period and as early voting began, so we’re working with Dominion to seek accountability on that front,” she said.
Benson said that her office, which oversees elections in Michigan is “working with our clerks to ensure voters are aware of this programming issue that will require them to ensure they are voting every section on the ballot.”
Every site in Michigan has a voter assist terminal that helps voters make their selections, according to a news release from Benson’s office.
“Because of this programming issue, voters using Dominion ICX VATs will have to select either the ‘straight party’ option if they wish to vote straight ticket or vote for each race on the partisan selection of the ballot if they wish to split their ticket,” the release said.
The release said that other states already do that but “it is not the standard in Michigan, where voters have the option to vote straight party but then override their party selection for individual races.”
The release says a ballot will not be processed if a voter using one of the affected Dominion machines votes the usual Michigan way.
“If a voter using the Dominion VAT votes straight party but then splits their ticket, the voter will receive an error message. The voter will need to go back and de-select their straight-party selection and vote for candidates in the races individually or vote straight party without splitting their ticket,” the release said.
Barbie Benson says Voter Assist Terminals (VAT) for the disabled are not registering straight party ballots in Michigan. She now claims she will “seek accountability” from Dominion. When do the voters get accountability from her for using defective Dominion in the first place?… https://t.co/OT791gr7qD pic.twitter.com/mYqKvxSr5V
— Heather Dow (@PatriotPostGirl) October 29, 2024
The release said the issue will be addressed in the future.
“Although the issue will not stop people from voting or making their preferred selections, and it will not change anyone’s votes, it will make the process more inconvenient for some voters using the VATs,” the release said.
