Trump Threats To Withhold Aid From Michigan Over Vote By Mail, Attacks Sec. Of State Jocelyn Benson

President Donald Trump threatened to withhold state funding over Michigan’s plan to send absentee ballot applications to qualified voters ahead of the August and November elections.

“Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!”

Trump had originally tweeted that Michigan sent out ballots, not applications, but quickly deleted that tweet.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson responded to both tweets, correcting the error in his first tweet and noting that GOP states are doing similar vote-by-mail procedures.

“Hi! ?? I also have a name, it’s Jocelyn Benson,” she said in a reply to the first tweet about ballots being mailed out.  “And we sent applications, not ballots. Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia.”

She responded to Trump’s corrected tweet as well saying: “Hi again. Still wrong. Every Michigan registered voter has a right to vote by mail. I have the authority & responsibility to make sure that they know how to exercises this right – just like my GOP colleagues are doing in GA, IA, NE and WV. Also, again, my name is Jocelyn Benson.”

The coronavirus pandemic has caused several states to postpone elections and change voting policies, including expanding vote-by-mail.

Trump and other Republicans have accused the system of being littered with voter fraud, despite the fact that Trump voted in the most recent Florida election by mail himself.