Editors Note: This article was updated to include relevant information about the Minnesota Election Law at the heart of Project Veritas’ ballot harvesting investigation.
The Minneapolis Police Department is “looking into” alleged ballot harvesting following reports that involved accusations against the campaign of Rep. Ilhan Omar.
“Allegations of voter fraud being evaluated,” the department tweeted Monday evening in all capital letters.
“The MPD is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting,” they continued. “We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements.”
ALLEGATIONS OF VOTER FRAUD BEING EVALUATED. ✅ The MPD is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting. We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements. No further information is available at this time on this.
— Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 28, 2020
The Ballot Harvesting Claims Being Investigated by Minneapolis Police
Project Veritas, a controversial video production company, claims to have uncovered a scheme in which hundreds of ballots are being illegally harvested in Omar’s Minneapolis district.
Here’s @Project_Veritas explosive video @realDonaldTrump is referencing #BallotHarvesting pic.twitter.com/cB2Bz31mSY
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) September 28, 2020
Liban Mohamed, brother of Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman, apparently demonstrates in a Snapchat video how his “car is full” of ballots.
Minnesota law states that no individual can be the “designated agent” for greater than three absentee voters.
However, that law was enjoined by a District Court on April 29 until its eventual reinstatement by the State Supreme Court on September 4.
Given these rulings, Project Veritas’ ballot harvesting accusations may not be as “explosive” as they lead on.
Further in the Project Veritas allegations, whistleblower Omar Jamal states that “[Omar] will do anything that she can do to get elected and she has hundreds of people on the streets doing that.”
Another person identified only as a ‘former political worker’ accuses Omar’s campaign deputy district director, Ali (Isse) Gainey, of having “perfected this system” of harvesting ballots.
The Project Veritas report has not been verified and the MPD has stated “no further information is available at this time.”
Say what you want about Project Veritas, but the video evidence is pretty stunning. Congress should investigate this matter. https://t.co/cEcG5xLMsJ
— Michael Taube (@michaeltaube) September 28, 2020
RELATED: Trump Calls For ‘Review’ Of Ilhan Omar Following Report Of Alleged ‘Ballot Harvesting’ In Minnesota
President Trump Wants Ilhan Omar Investigated
Upon seeing the explosive reports, President Trump immediately called for a review of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
“This is totally illegal,” Trump tweeted. “Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review.”
He added his thoughts about the matter again early Tuesday morning tweeting, “Rigged election!”
Rigged Election! https://t.co/ysYCBCyxf8
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2020
RELATED: Report: Colorado Clarifies Why Voter Registration Postcards Received By Non-Citizens, Dead People
Tulsi Gabbard Explains Why Ballot Harvesting Needs to Be Banned
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), citing the Minneapolis investigation, re-upped her call for a ban on the practice of ballot harvesting.
“Banning ballot harvesting is not a partisan issue. It’s been used and abused in states like North Carolina and California and is ripe for fraud,” she wrote on Twitter earlier this month.
Gabbard references H.R. 8285, a bill to “amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit payments under such Act to States which permit ballot harvesting.”
The legislation is a bipartisan effort, sponsored by Gabbard and co-sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL).
Congress needs to pass our bipartisan bill to ban ballot harvesting so no one can exploit our sacred right to vote. https://t.co/5Vh7rLsQDa
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) September 29, 2020
“Project Veritas offers further evidence of the need to ban ballot harvesting. It’s not a partisan issue,” Gabbard added.
The undercover video group has come under fire in the past over inaccurate reporting, however, making an investigation by the MPD all the more important.
Omar has called to “completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department” previously, comparing them to a “cancer” that needed to be cut out.
