(CBS DETROIT) — Elon Musk and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson engaged in an online discussion over claims that the state has more registered voters than eligible voters.
“It’s very disappointing,” Benson said at a news conference Monday, praising the paper early voter turnout across the state.
It wasn’t long before she was asked about her recent online feud with Musk over claims she called “dangerous misinformation.”
“We’re certainly seeing an uptick in people with sizable platforms, like Mr. Musk, or others, trying to use those platforms to cast doubt on what is a very secure and transparent process. And honestly, it says more about the person throwing stones than the system itself that someone would deliberately try to sow doubt in the minds of citizens about the sanctity of our elections,” Benson said.
Musk reshared a post asking for community notes on whether the claim was true.
Benson did not hesitate in her response and accused Musk of spreading lies.
In a post responding to the claims, Benson said Musk is pushing numbers including 1.2 million voters who will be removed from the state’s voter rolls.
Musk fired back, posting that Benson blatantly lied to the public and only planned to purge those inactive voters after the election.
However, federal election law states that inactive voters can still vote for two consecutive voting cycles before being removed.
Meanwhile, Benson said it’s not difficult to get the facts about voting before deciding to spread disinformation.
“And honestly, it says more to me about the person throwing the stones than it does about the system itself,” Benson said.
The Secretary of State has created a page on his website titled “Election Fact Center” to respond to the most common election conspiracy theories circulating online.
Gino Vicci
