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Dem GOTV Group Caught on Camera Endorsing Voter Fraud

Hidden camera video shows the director of Work for Progress backing plans to cast fraudulent ballots

Sen. Mark Udall, (D., Colo.) / AP
October 22, 2014

A top official at a Democratic get-out-the-vote outfit working to reelect Sen. Mark Udall (D., Colo) appears to endorse voter fraud in a hidden camera video released on Wednesday.

The video, released by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe, shows Meredith Hicks, director of the political canvassing group Work for Progress, endorse the casting of fraudulent mail-in ballots for ineligible voters.

"If they are not eligible to vote, and all these people are throwing out ballots, lets use those ballots to vote. So we can get as many votes as possible," O’Keefe tells Hicks in the video.

"Yes, definitely," she responds.

Work for Progress has received millions of dollars from a network of dark money groups in Colorado, Boston, and Washington, D.C., to canvass on behalf of Udall and get out the Democratic vote ahead of the November election.

One of its employees is already facing voter registration fraud charges in Colorado after he allegedly registered voters who were not eligible to cast ballots in the state.

In O’Keefe’s undercover video, Hicks suggests fraudulently filling out mail-in ballots that voters have discarded.

"If someone throws out the ballot, if you want to fill it out you should do it," she says. When O’Keefe notes that doing so could tip the balance of the Colorado Senate election, she replies, "I agree. You’re totally right."

Work for Progress is the primary contractor for a Democratic super PAC called Fair Share Action. That group’s 501(c)(4) arm, and a host of other organizations to which they are tied, are among the 180 organizations backed by Democracy Alliance, a secretive network of liberal donors.

According to Mother Jones, O’Keefe targeted other pro-Udall organizations, including a Democratic Party field office in Boulder, with similar undercover video work. Unlike Work for Progress, those offices did not endorse his proposed schemes.

Work for Progress did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

O’Keefe included in the video an interview with Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who says the fraudulent use of discarded mail-in ballots is a serious concern.

The video is the latest from Project Veritas Action, the new activist arm of O’Keefe’s organization that has set its sights on competitive Senate races around the country.

One recent video revealed campaign staffers for Kentucky Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes saying that the Senate candidate is lying about her support for the state’s coal industry.

Published under: 2014 Election , Mark Udall