Fact Check: Dominion Voting Machines NOT Facing ‘Nationwide Issue’ — Limited To Voting Assistance Terminals In Michigan
Is there a “nationwide issue” affecting Dominion voting machines that is impacting people’s ability to vote as they intend? No, that’s not true: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson misspoke when she said that. According to a Dominion press release, Michigan is the only state experiencing such issues, specifically with Dominion Voting Assistance Terminals — a device used by voters with disabilities and others seeking assistance in marking their ballots — when making split-party voting choices.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on X on October 30, 2024. The video’s caption said:
🚨 NEW: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says there is a ‘NATIONWIDE ISSUE with Dominion Voter Access Terminals,’ preventing voters from making certain selections.
Of course there is 🙄
According to her office, this ‘programming issue’ CANNOT be fixed, and voters are being forced to deal with it.
Why was this ‘issue’ not caught during the testing period?
And why can’t we just use paper ballots?!
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Nov 4 16:48:48 2024 UTC)
Dominion Voting Systems
In the post’s 76-second video, Benson incorrectly states that there’s a “nationwide issue with Dominion Voter Access Terminals,” which was later clarified by her office. A Dominion press release (archived here) from October 28, 2024, (updated November 4, 2024) said:
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 that there is in fact no ‘nationwide issue’ with Dominion machines. Secretary Benson clarified that Michigan voters seeking to use Dominion VATs can successfully complete and verify their ballot selections by following the instructions provided. She also confirmed that Michigan elections remain secure with Dominion machines, saying ‘We have no issues of people being prevented from voting as a result of this. Ballot access is secure as well as accurate.’
Michigan’s Election Fact Center
The secretary of state’s office manages the Election Fact Center (archived here) on its website to address “election misinformation.” It said this about Dominion Voter Assistance Terminals or VATs under the subheading beginning “Michigan voters using a Dominion Voter Assist Terminal” (emphasis ours):
The Michigan Bureau of Elections (BOE) has identified an issue with the programming of Dominion Voter Assist Terminals (VATs) that may cause some inconvenience for voters as they mark their ballot.
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–meaning voting for candidates in both parties within the partisan section. This issue only affects voters using VATs in Michigan counties that use Dominion voting equipment. …
It is not possible to fix the programming for the affected VATs this close to the election. The issue will not stop people from voting or making their preferred selections, and it will not change anyone’s votes.
Dominion has explained that this programming issue only affects Dominion VAT users in Michigan.
What is the issue with straight-party voting on Dominion VATs?
Dominion VATs (archived here) are not the predominant voting machines at Michigan polling places, though all polling places in counties using Dominion equipment will have at least one. VATs are specialized devices used by voters with disabilities and others to help mark their ballots.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, which administers elections in the state, said this is what’s going on with the VATs (emphasis theirs):
The Bureau of Elections identified an issue in the way Dominion programed the ICX VATs for the General Election. Voters in counties using a Dominion VAT to mark their ballot will have to select EITHER the ‘straight party’ option if they wish to vote straight party OR vote for each race on the partisan section of the ballot if they wish to ‘split their ticket’. While this is the process used in some other states, it is not the standard in Michigan, where voters to have the option to vote straight party but then override their party selection for individual races.
If a voter using the Dominion VAT votes straight party but then splits their ticket [votes for another party], the voter will receive an error message. That 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 programming issue with the Dominion machines creates an inconvenience for the limited percentage of voters who both need assistance and decide to change their choice in the middle of voting a straight-party ticket.
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims related to the 2024 U.S. general election and other elections are here.
