(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)A Somali-American candidate running for the Minneapolis city council claims she was horrified to discover the Democrat Party in Minneapolis, along with Ilhan Omar, had allegedly been running a “voter buying” scheme for quite some time. This woman is very brave and has to realize what she is saying could put her in danger. You don’t want to miss this.
Although the video by Minneapolis city council candidate Saciido Shaie was made at the beginning of July, it was just discovered thanks to those who translated it from Somali to English. The translation was confirmed by two Somali translators.
This woman is no dummy. Shaie has to know you don’t incriminate a U.S. House Representative and the Democratic Party without possible retaliation.
Saciido Shaie’s video claims what many in the Somali Minneapolis community have been warning about for quite some time.
“In recent years, multiple Somali-Americans living in Minneapolis-St. Paul have come forward to describe vote-buying, ballot-harvesting, and intimidation operations of historic scope in the Democratic Party-controlled area,” David Steinberg reports in The Blaze.
Some have brought evidence to state and federal law enforcement, but little action has been taken.
“These whistleblowers explicitly name Ilhan Omar, her campaign director Ali Isse, and other Democratic Party members as being involved,” Steinberg said.
Shaie, who is a local political activist and Democratic Party member, ran for the Minneapolis City Council seat in Ward 6. She has a long political resume.
On July 6, Saciido Shaie released a 15-minute video of herself speaking in Somali. She announced that she was not suspending her campaign — but she would no longer be campaigning door-to-door.
Why was she suspending going door to door? Well, as a truly committed member of the Somali-American community, she feared that older Somalis would end up in jail at no fault of their own.
Saciido Shaie was shocked to learn that those Minneapolis Somalis expected a $200 dollar fee in exchange for their vote.
“She was angry that local Democrats had taken advantage of so many elderly Somali-American refugees, who, she said, sincerely do not know that vote-buying is a serious federal crime in the United States,” Steinberg adds.
Shaie also specifically described two incidents she had witnessed.
Shaie claimed anyone who thinks she is a “snitch” needs to understand that law enforcement and others “already know.” Everyone involved could eventually get turned in by friends and family, presumably if law enforcement finally shows up with evidence and leverage.
Shaie also stated that these “terrible things” simply need to stop, because they will destroy the Somali-American community and their children’s hopes for a future in America.
In the video, Shaie describes a troubling incident with Somali seniors. Shaie had a bus pick up seniors for early voting, but when they arrived at the polling place, they told the driver the “going rate” was $200 dollars per vote. The seniors then added since they “liked” Shaie they were all willing to drop that to $100 dollars per vote.
She immediately told the bus driver to return, saying she would have no part in this ongoing crime.
“A lot of people are doing things that eventually will bring a lot of problems for the Somali community,” the Minneapolis city council candidate said. “We have seen first of all the seniors are being confused about the time of the campaign, and how [voting] is supposed to be done in the traditional American system of voting.”
We are doing the opposite. In fact we are doing it like Somalia, and even worse, is how the campaigns are being done.
You will see people who are saying “if you need my vote, give me money.” Terrible things.
In reality, the person should choose a person on quality, education, and work performance and even being Somali, but instead the people are fighting over “who will give [me] money is who I will give my vote.” That is what was going on in Somalia.
The video goes on for a little longer, and it becomes clear Saciido Shaie is talking about Ilhan Omar and her past campaigns. She even relates an incident with an elderly Somali woman who was upset about a “Somali man” who confiscated her ballot.
“An old man or woman in their 80s who are locked in a room here know nothing about the system, or the law you understand. You have misled them!” Shaie stated. “I met this woman and I asked her, ‘Have you voted?’ She responded ‘yes.”‘
“I then asked, ‘Who did you vote for?’ She responded, ‘Wallahi I don’t know,'” Shaie adds. “So I asked, ‘How did you know you voted?’ She responded, ‘Someone came and forced me and took my ballot.”‘
“I responded, ‘OK, so what did he say or do?’ She replied, ‘I don’t know, he was a Somali man, I just gave it to him.”‘
David Steinberg, the reporter who uncovered this latest vote-buying allegation, is the same reporter who broke the Ilhan Omar marriage scandal case involving her brother. He knows the Somali Minneapolis community well and he is warning Minnesota could be the battleground state Trump needs to win.
However, now with this blatant vote-buying scheme in place and running Minneapolis like a third world dictatorship, how can the votes be trusted?
This is disgraceful and totally unacceptable. The FBI better get into gear or we can add Minnesota to a growing list of states that are ripe for a Trump lawsuit should we see the election too close for comfort this November.
