A political operative paid $200 for an absentee ballot as part of a voter fraud scheme, according to video footage released by a watchdog group late Monday.
The video footage from July 26 shows two men, one holding a ballot. Another man instructs him on how to fill out the ballot. The man holding the ballot says he will hand it over after he fills it out. The second man then hands him money.
The footage was obtained and released by Project Veritas, which monitors private and public corruption. It said the video was recorded in Minneapolis.
The new footage also showed a man identified as Osman Ali Dahquane speaking on the phone with Omar Jamal, a Somali community member who runs the Somali Watchdog organization. Dahquane says he was paid $800 for his absentee ballot, as were any people he brought to those running the alleged operation.
The alleged voter fraud is “an open secret,” according to Jamal.
An unnamed source described as a former co-worker of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) claimed that the lawmaker was the one who thought up the scheme. Dahquane said he took money from Antone Melton-Meaux, who unsuccessfully challenged Omar in the Democratic primary, but then voted for Omar.
He also alleged that Omar and Jamal Osman, the Minneapolis Councilman, were paying for votes.
Another anonymous source, described as a former political worker, claimed over $250,000 was spent on the August primary elections. The woman said Omar’s campaign chair, Ali Gainer, was involved with the alleged scheme.
Contact information for Melton-Meaux couldn’t be found. Asked about the allegations, Omar’s spokesman, Jeremy Slevin, directed The Epoch Times to Omar’s campaign, which didn’t respond to an inquiry.
Slevin on Twitter has referred to the videos as “a coordinated right-wing effort to delegitimize a free and fair election.” Omar shared a social media post from her daughter that claimed people who believe she was involved in a voter fraud scheme are racist.
Omar was born in Somalia and emigrated to the United States when she was young.
