The Michigan Department of State announced on Friday that a technical issue with some voting terminals may inconvenience certain voters in the upcoming election. According to the department, some of the Dominion Voting Systems machines used for voters with disabilities show an error message when a voter attempts to submit a ballot that doesn’t align with the “straight party” selection chosen initially. Voters selecting this option will mark all candidates from a single party, while those opting to split their vote by selecting candidates individually must avoid the “straight party” feature to prevent error messages.
The department clarified that the issue does not affect vote tallying or voter choices but may disrupt the voting flow for those using the Dominion ICX VAT machines. With Election Day approaching, officials noted they could not fix the programming in time but will address it for future elections. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson expressed dissatisfaction over the situation, stating that her office is working with Dominion for accountability and ensuring clerks inform voters of this temporary requirement. Dominion Voting Systems emphasized that this issue only affects Michigan and confirmed it does not interfere with voters’ ability to cast their choices.