Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office has referred a press release by the state’s Republican Party about an unlocked ballot drop box for investigation “as election misinformation.”
The Democrat’s office announced the referral to Attorney General Dana Nessel Wednesday hours after the Michigan GOP sent out a statement titled, “Ballot drop boxes left unlocked In Lansing.” The statement featured videos posted on social media of a drop box in the city that was apparently left unlocked two weeks earlier and someone struggling to close the drop box this week.
The earlier video featured an unnamed person opening the apparently unlocked box and saying, “There are ballots. Nothing to see here ladies and gentlemen.”
Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope previously responded to the video on Facebook, saying the envelope pictured in the drop box was not a ballot envelope and the video was posted before Lansing voters received their ballots.