President Trump and Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson sparred on Twitter on Thursday after overseas ballots incorrectly listed a Libertarian candidate in the spot of Vice President Mike Pence.
The Bureau of Election alerted clerks on Tuesday after it was discovered that more than 400 overseas ballots had listed Libertarian vice presidential candidate Jeremy Cohen instead of Pence, according to The Detroit News. The bureau asked clerks to notify the recipients of the ballots and issue corrected ones.
Trump went after the mistake on Twitter, saying it was intentional and was done “illegally.”
…egregious behavior, which is just the way they want it. This was not a mistake, it was done illegally and on purpose. We want Mike! https://t.co/m1LLdk7Cc4
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2020
“The Democrat Trump Hater Secretary of State of Michigan, purposely misprinted Ballots for the Military, putting the wrong names on the Ballot, and actually listing a member of another party as a replacement for Vice President @Mike_Pence. Everybody is totally confused by their egregious behavior, which is just the way they want it,” Trump tweeted. “This was not a mistake, it was done illegally and on purpose. We want Mike!”
Trump has repeatedly gone after various voting measures, including the expected high quantity of mail-in ballots this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. He previously criticized Benson for issuing mail-in ballot applications to every registered voter in the state.
Benson fired back at Trump, saying that the error was caused by an “unintended computer glitch.”
Once again you're wrong. This was an unintended computer glitch that was caught & quickly corrected. Suggesting otherwise is false & misleading. Impacted voters immediately received an accurate ballot & guidance to ensure their vote counts. And my name, again, is @JocelynBenson. https://t.co/qmlPusZEwi
— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) September 17, 2020
“Once again you’re wrong. This was an unintended computer glitch that was caught & quickly corrected. Suggesting otherwise is false & misleading,” Benson said. “Impacted voters immediately received an accurate ballot & guidance to ensure their vote counts. And my name, again, is @JocelynBenson.”
Those who voted using the incorrect ballot would still have their votes counted and a vote for the “Trump-Cohen” ticket would be counted as one for Trump and Pence, The Detroit News said.
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter at The Michigan Star and Star News Digital Media. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair. Email her at [email protected].
Photo “Donald Trump” by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. CC BY 2.0. Photo “Jocelyn Benson” by Jocelyn Benson.
