James O'Keefe walked into an Alaska polling station and nearly got a ballot using a senator's brother's name.
The founder of O'Keefe Media Group dropped a bombshell hidden camera video from Alaska's August 18 primary election that has election integrity hawks absolutely losing it. As reported here, O'Keefe strolled up to poll workers, gave the name Brian Murkowski, who happens to be Senator Lisa Murkowski's brother, and told them his wallet was sitting in his car.
The response from the poll worker? "Absolutely possible." No pause. No second thought. Just a green light to proceed with a questioned ballot. The worker even located Brian Murkowski's name right there on the voter rolls and was ready to hand over the goods.
Now here's where it gets even spicier. O'Keefe says Brian Murkowski doesn't even live in Alaska anymore, yet his name is still chilling on the voter rolls like he never left. That's a whole separate issue involving the Alaska Division of Elections and how they maintain their registration lists.
O'Keefe was careful to note that he never checked in under that name, never signed anything, and never actually cast a ballot. So no laws were broken on his end.
But wait, there's more. At a different Anchorage polling location, another member of O'Keefe's team pulled the same move. This time they used the name Karina Waller, who serves as Senator Murkowski's state director. Same story. No ID presented, and a poll worker confirmed they were at the right location and offered a questioned ballot.
Two different locations. Two different identities connected to a sitting U.S. senator. Same result both times.
Here's the thing. Alaska law actually allows this. State statute 15.15.225 requires voters to show one form of identification, but there's a provision stating that anyone who cannot produce ID gets to fill out a questioned ballot. That ballot goes into a separate envelope and gets reviewed later by election officials who decide whether to count it. So the system technically worked as designed. Whether that design is a feature or a flaw depends on who you ask.
The real kicker? Senator Murkowski herself has publicly opposed the federal SAVE Act, which would impose stricter voter eligibility documentation requirements nationwide. Her office put out a statement saying she supports photo ID requirements and even voted for a separate Senate measure along those lines. But she called the SAVE Act an "overly burdensome" mandate from Washington that would be impossible to implement before this election cycle.
Murkowski argued the federal legislation could disenfranchise thousands of eligible Alaskan voters, particularly those in remote and rural communities where getting government identification poses real logistical hurdles. She joined Republican Senator Thom Tillis and a few other GOP members in blocking the bill ahead of the midterms.
Her office also fired a warning shot, stating that voter impersonation is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That line landed with some irony given the footage O'Keefe just released showing exactly how easy it would be to attempt such a thing.
The whole episode is a political grenade, and it landed right in Murkowski's lap.
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