Jimmy Kimmel Catches L.A. Residents Lying About Voting in N.Y. Primary

The New York state presidential primary elections were this past Tuesday, and despite widespread controversy about voting irregularities and issues, Jimmy Kimmel found a number of dedicated citizens who had no trouble casting their vote. There’s only one problem: these voters are in California and are big fat liars.

Kimmel sent a camera crew out on Tuesday for a special New York Primary edition of his hilarious segment “Lie Witness News,” where, simply put, people lie so they don’t look stupid and then get what they deserve. Past editions of this segment have included getting pedestrians to admit that they saw outrageous statements by Donald Trump that never happened as well as getting seven people to give their opinions on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 2015 speech. Yes, THAT Dr. King—the one who was tragically assassinated in 1968 and who has not been making any Coachella hologram appearances.

This time around, the Jimmy Kimmel Live crew asked Hollywood pedestrians a simple question: “Did you vote in the New York primary?” This, of course, is impossible as the New York primary takes place over 2,500 miles from California and is open only to citizens of New York. Kimmel made sure not to include any possible New Yorkers who sent in absentee ballots from the Golden State. Surely one would not lie into the lens of a TV camera, where their fibs would be broadcast to millions. Well, not so much:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USIPTs4SKzU

Yup, it looks like people will say just about anything to look like they’re smart and responsible when they’re on TV. After asking the pedestrians if they voted in the New York primary, the interviewer’s questions got more and more outrageous with each lie. Some of the pedestrians got into detail about their polling place, another lied about getting their “complimentary bagel,” and one even admitted to “taking the Long Island Ferry” to his polling place…in California. Regrettably, one interviewee didn’t take the bait and admit to getting “one of those Statue of Liberties that they were handing out.”

Even when the interviewer deadpanned about California being “full of liars” during the interview, the now-disgraced liars never caught on. It seems that even if any of them figured out what was going on, they’d be in too deep to admit their wrongdoing.

In case anyone is wondering, there isn’t any chance that these guys were confusing the question with their own state’s primary. California doesn’t head to the polls until June 7. Knowing just how politically engaged these people are, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve already voted.

The interviewer didn’t completely let them off the hook after her round of questioning. Some of the bolder liars got a swanky “Idiot” or “Liar” sticker for performing their civic duty—or, you know, not performing the civic duty of people on the other side of the country.

Some of you may think that this might be a little excessive, but let me remind you: The guys who didn’t even blink before blatantly lying in response to absurd questions just because they were asked with a tinge of an authoritative tone get a vote that counts just the same as yours. So maybe they deserve it.