Justice Department Dismisses O’Keefe Voting Video as a Stunt
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Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has brushed aside a video by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe in which a polling station volunteer is tricked into giving the attorney general’s primary ballot to the wrong person.
In the video, a man is seen giving the attorney general’s name, Eric Holder, to a poll volunteer in Washington, D.C., along with Holder’s address. The volunteer finds Holder’s ballot and offers it to the man, who says he’d feel more comfortable if he provided his identification, which he says he left in his car.
The point of the video is to show that without voter ID laws, anyone can vote under anyone else’s name when in reality, huge numbers of people who wanted to game the voting system would have to take part in a coordinated scheme to make even a small impact.
While some have praised O’Keefe, even calling him “brilliant,” the Justice Department was less enthusiastic.
“It’s no coincidence that these so-called examples of rampant voter fraud consistently turn out to be manufactured ones,” said a department official, who asked not to be identified.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio