Jocelyn Benson’s self-serving decision to allow Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to funnel $3.4 million in improperly raised funds to the Democratic Party or other candidates, if allowed to stand, will make a joke of Michigan’s campaign finance laws.

The secretary of state previously said Whitmer couldn’t keep for herself money donated to fight a recall effort that never materialized. But instead of demanding she return the cash to donors, she issued an opinion last week that the governor could give it to a political party or individual candidates for office, if she chooses.

If the money goes to the state Democratic Party, as it most likely will, Benson stands to directly benefit from her own opinion, since she’ll be running for reelection as a Democrat next year.

This smells like a classic money-laundering scheme. Benson should not be the final word on the proper handling of money that benefits her own party and could very well end up in her personal campaign war chest.

Whitmer’s fundraising gimmickry was a sleazy enterprise from the beginning, aimed at getting around Michigan’s $7,150 limit on individual contributions to a candidate.

The governor tried to slip through a loophole in the law created by a 1983 attorney general’s opinion that said an official facing recall could blow past the limits and raise as much money as possible. Several recall petitions had been filed against Whitmer, but none of the groups was seeking signatures or spending money on an effort to remove her from office.

Claiming an active recall was a pretense to fatten a campaign cash stockpile that has already reached $10.1 million, even without the questionable donations. Five wealthy donors together contributed more than $1 million of the $3.4 million total to help Whitmer fight the phantom recall, including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who gave $250,000, and University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein, who kicked in $257,150.

The donation limits exist precisely to prevent rich individuals from using their resources to gain undue influence over elected officials.

Benson’s opinion came in response to a federal lawsuit filed by conservative groups who claim the governor violated the law with the recall fundraising, and with her use of a private jet for a trip to Florida to visit her father. On the second matter, Benson said she found no violation of campaign finance law because Whitmer used the jet out of concern for her personal safety.

The Michigan Bureau of Elections, which agreed the “mere act of forming and registering a recall committee” isn’t enough to raise contribution limits, expressed interest in revisiting the recall cash issue, and potentially revising the policy. It should do just that.

If it’s improper for Whitmer to keep the money raised to combat a non-existent recall, it should be a no-brainer that it’s also not right that the money end up being used to indirectly benefit her campaign and those of other Democrats.

Hopefully, the court will come to that same conclusion.