Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Elon Musk clash over Michigan's voter rolls
(CBS DETROIT) — Elon Musk and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson sparred online over claims that the state has more registered voters than eligible voters.
"It's very disappointing," Benson said during a news conference on Monday, touting the turnout of early voters across the state.
It didn't take long before she was asked about her recent online feud with Musk over the claims she called "dangerous misinformation."
"We're certainly seeing an uptick with either people with sizeable platforms, like Mr. Musk, or others, trying to use those platforms to sow seeds of doubt about what is a very secure and transparent process. And frankly, it says more about the person throwing stones than the system itself that anyone would intentionally try to cast seeds of doubt in the minds of citizens about the sanctity of our elections," Benson said.
Musk reshared a post asking for community notes if the claim was true.
Benson did not hold back in her response accusing Musk of spreading lies.
In a post responding to the claims, Benson said Musk is pushing numbers that include 1.2 million voters slated for removal from the state's voter roll.
Musk fired back, posting that Benson was blatantly lying to the public and only planned to remove those inactive voters after the election.
However, the federal election law states that inactive voters can still vote for two consecutive voting cycles before they are removed.
Meanwhile, Benson said it's not hard to get the facts about voting before deciding to spread disinformation.
"And frankly, it says more to me about the person throwing the stones than the system itself," Benson said.
The Secretary of State has created a page on its website labeled "Election Fact Center" to respond to the most common election conspiracy theories circulating online.