An eye-opening undercover video from a citizen journalist has exposed a significant scandal involving Somali-owned daycares in Minnesota, which are allegedly profiting from taxpayer money without actual operations.

In response, Donald Trump has deployed federal agents to tackle this issue, raising concerns that such fraudulent activities could extend to the United States’ cherished electoral process.

In the 2024 election, Kamala Harris, along with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, secured the state by just a narrow margin of over 138,000 votes, translating to a slim 4.2 percent lead.

This slim victory has prompted lawmakers to question whether lenient voting laws are contributing to potential election fraud in Minnesota, known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Recently, Minnesota has become a focal point in Trump’s campaign against illegal immigration, following alarming reports of fraud within the Somali community, including allegations of funds being diverted to Islamist terrorists in North Africa.

President Trump has warned Democratic Governor Walz of possible federal charges for what he terms as ‘gross incompetence,’ while also accusing Representative Ilhan Omar, who is the voice for many Somalis in the state, of committing immigration fraud by allegedly marrying her brother to gain US citizenship.

Walz claimed the state has ‘spent years cracking down on fraud – referring cases to law enforcement, shutting down and auditing high-risk programs.’ 

Omar, meanwhile, has urged people not to blame the entire Somali community for the actions of a few. 

But the outrage reached fever pitch on Friday after a viral video by journalist Nick Shirley uncovered scores of empty Somali-run daycare centers in receipt of taxpayer funds.

Minnesota has the highest incidence of voter fraud in the country, according to a database compiled by the Heritage Foundation. It had 138 cases dating back to 2004 (the highest per capita, ~23.7 per million), and far exceeding the number in more populous states such as North Carolina (123 cases, ~11 per million), Illinois (117, ~9.2), and Florida (93, ~3.9)

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, speaking at a news conference on Thursday, December 4

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) looks on during a news conference on reintroducing the Neighbors Not Enemies Act on Capitol Hill on January 22

Now, amid concerns over a systemic culture of fraud, lawmakers in Washington are demanding measures be taken to enshrine the sanctity of Minnesota’s elections.

Of particular concern is an election law that allows a registered voter to ‘vouch’ for up to eight people seeking same-day registration without an ID.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon’s website explains the process — which is entirely unique among the United States. 

‘A registered voter from your precinct can go with you to the polling place to sign an oath confirming your address. This is known as “vouching.” A registered voter can vouch for up to eight voters,’ it says.

Not only this, but voting forms add that ’employees of a residential facility may vouch for an unlimited number of facility residents.’

Senator Mike Lee of Utah on Sunday called for the Senate to immediately pass his SAVE Act (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) that would require proof-of-citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

Voting rights activist Scott Presler, whose work Lee cited, warned that Minnesota’s vouching system was ripe for exploitation. 

‘Does this allow for potential fraud and abuse of our elections? Absolutely – especially when you consider that Minnesota has same-day voter registration,’ he said.

Elon Musk, referring to the vouching system, suggested it was a sinister voting loophole that was ‘made for fraud’ in a post on X. 

Minnesota, like 42 other states, requires a sworn affirmation of citizenship under penalty of perjury for voter registration.

But while this is not unique to Minnesota, the state rejected just 54 out of 1,372,437 registrations between 2022 and 2024 — a minuscule 0.0 percent rate.

This is far below the 3.0 percent national average, and significantly lower than similarly sized states such as Alabama which rejected 3,843 registrations (0.3 percent) and Colorado which invalidated 91,871 registrations (2.4 percent). 

The data comes from the 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey, a biennial report the US Election Assistance Commission published in June 2025 to collect comprehensive data on federal election administration.

The furor over Minnesota’s Somali-run daycares exploded on Friday after a viral video by independent journalist Nick Shirley uncovered empty buildings that were receiving taxpayer funds 

The report, which did not specify the reasons for the rejected registrations, credits Minnesota’s mature online system, handling 20.5 percent of applications, for ‘greatly reducing’ duplicates and invalids.

Yet while other states also process large volumes digitally, few match Minnesota’s extraordinary near-zero rejection rate, leaving a question mark over whether the system is properly vetting voters.

According to a database compiled by the conservative think-tank, the Heritage Foundation, Minnesota has the highest incidence of voter fraud in the country. 

It had 138 cases dating back to 2004 (the highest per capita, ~23.7 per million), far exceeding the number in more populous states such as North Carolina (123 cases, ~11 per million), Illinois (117, ~9.2), and Florida (93, ~3.9).

Recent cases have struck at the heart of Minnesota’s Somali community. 

Muse Mohamed, a Somali-American volunteer for his brother-in-law, state Senator Omar Fateh, escaped jail in November 2022 after lying to a grand jury about mishandling absentee ballots.

The then-31-year-old was sentenced to house arrest and two years probation after claiming that he received two ballots directly from voters and hand-delivered them to a voting center during the 2020 primary election.

But the people who were named on the ballots testified at his trial that they had never met Mohamed. 

In another 2022 conviction, Abdihakim Amin Essa, from Minneapolis, was sentenced to 180 days probation after pleading guilty to four vote fraud counts in the 2018 election.

He was accused of signing as a witness for 13 people who cast absentee ballots when he legally couldn’t because he wasn’t a US citizen, and signing with his father’s name.

Essa told investigators that he worked for a political campaign, but prosecutors did not specify which candidate. 

These convictions have intensified scrutiny on Minnesota’s Somali community, while other cases call into question the state’s electoral system more broadly. 

In a shocking prosecution earlier this year, Ronnie Williams, 58, and his girlfriend Lorraine Combs, 57, pleaded guilty to filling out more than 500 phony voter registration forms while living in West St. Paul, outside Minneapolis.

Somali-American voters vote at a polling place at Brian Coyle Community Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 3, 2020

Anti-ICE protesters march through frigid conditions, with temperatures near 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius), in a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 20

An unnamed foundation paid Williams to register the voters between 2021 and 2022. Prosecutors haven’t named the foundation because the investigation remains active. 

State officials, including Secretary of State Simon, insist voter fraud remains ‘exceedingly rare.’

Cassondra Knudson, a spokeswoman for Simon, hit back at claims that the state’s vouching system was easy to exploit.

‘Vouching can only be used to provide proof of a potential voter’s residence in the precinct. The potential voter must still provide their Minnesota driver’s license or ID card number or the last four digits of their Social Security number for identity verification,’ Knudson said.

‘Vouching is most commonly used in senior living facilities by residents who have not updated their driver’s licenses to reflect their current residence. It is also sometimes used in cases where an eligible voter has recently moved to a new address and lacks identification indicating the new address.’ 

Simon is already battling Pam Bondi’s Justice Department over a federal lawsuit demanding broad access to Minnesota voter data.

Bondi wants all voter registration records going back at least two years, including partial Social Security numbers and drivers license numbers, arguing the DOJ needs the files to ensure voter lists are correct.

Simon on December 23 moved to dismiss the case, calling it a ‘fishing expedition’ involving sensitive personal information and arguing Minnesota has taken great pains to balance privacy rights and voter-data access.

The Trump administration has launched similar lawsuits against 22 states and the District of Columbia following a March executive order alleging widespread voter fraud.