MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Hennepin County prosecutors on Wednesday, October 28, charged conservative activist James O'Keefe, 42, and influencer Cam Higby, 26, with felony unlawful voting and felony identity theft, accusing the two men of posing as registered voters at Minneapolis polling places during Minnesota's August 11 primary as part of a hidden-camera stunt they later posted online. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the charges at a news conference in Minneapolis, six days before the November 3 midterm general election.
Source: Reuters
Moriarty, the chief elected prosecutor in Minneapolis, said neither man actually voted and neither signed a voter oath — and that under Minnesota law that does not save them. “You cannot begin to apply for a ballot and misrepresent yourself,” she told reporters. “Elections are the bedrock of democracy and their protection is one of our highest priorities. Individuals engaging in unlawful conduct related to our elections will be held accountable.” She added, in remarks reported from the same announcement: “It is not against the law to be performative. It is not against the law to be offensive.”
Source: Hennepin County Attorney's Office, Oct. 28 announcement
What prosecutors say happened in August
According to the criminal complaint described by Moriarty's office, O'Keefe and Higby visited multiple precincts in Hennepin County on primary day, August 11, and gave election judges the names of registered voters in the precinct without those voters' knowledge or permission. Prosecutors say some of the names belonged to voters who had since died, and reporting on the complaint says at least one name belonged to a living man who had already voted in the primary and was shocked to learn his name had been used. In one exchange quoted by prosecutors, a member of the group gave the name “William” at Pratt Elementary School and, asked for a last name, answered “Pomeranz” — an actual registered voter in Minneapolis. Poll workers grew suspicious, documented the encounters the way election judges are trained to do, and reported them; the Minnesota Secretary of State's office passed the matter to Moriarty's office and the Minneapolis Police Department investigated.
The pair filmed the visits with hidden cameras. O'Keefe posted video to social media on August 13, two days after the primary, and a version quoted in the complaint was posted to YouTube on August 14 under the title “I Wore Burqa To EXPOSE Election FRAUD In Minneapolis.” In the footage, Higby poses in a face-concealing burqa while O'Keefe, using a fake accent and two false names, asks poll workers at multiple sites whether he can vouch for companions so they can register and vote the same day. The video shows the group leaving each site after asking the question, without completing a registration. Higby says in the video that he dressed that way to “point out the vulnerabilities in the system and how easily exploitable it is.”
How Minnesota's vouching system actually works
Vouching is a long-standing Minnesota same-day registration tool: a registered voter in a precinct may confirm the residency of up to eight other people so they can register and vote that day. It is proof of residence only. The person being registered must still provide a Minnesota driver's licence or ID number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number, to verify identity, and the voucher must sign an oath under penalty of perjury, on a form the state keeps for at least 22 months. Secretary of State Steve Simon's office said on August 14 that the video was heavily edited and reflected ignorance of Minnesota election law, and it noted that in the 2024 general election fewer than 0.6% of votes cast used the vouching process. A Reuters fact check had previously found that O'Keefe's August video misrepresented the vouching law. Simon, quoted in the county attorney's announcement, said: “Polling places are the heart of our democracy and should be places of safety and peace. Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated.”
The other side: an exposé, the defendants say
O'Keefe founded Project Veritas, the conservative activist group known for undercover videos targeting ideological opponents and often accused by critics of deceptive editing; he left it in 2023 and now runs the O'Keefe Media Group. Higby is an independent journalist and conservative commentator known for filming at protests and debating students on campuses. Neither the O'Keefe Media Group nor Higby responded to Reuters' request for comment on the charges; in the past they have characterised their work as an attempt to expose the potential for fraud, and the group has defended the August operation by saying its members did not impersonate anyone and only asked questions about the vouching law. The charges are allegations, not convictions: both men are presumed innocent unless the state proves its case in court.
Case numbers, per the Hennepin County Attorney's Office: James O'Keefe — 27-CR-26-28438; Cam Higby — 27-CR-26-28437. Each man faces felony counts of unlawful voting and identity theft under Minnesota law, which makes it a felony to intentionally misrepresent your identity in applying for a ballot. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Why this lands six days before the midterms
The timing gives the case a national charge. The November 3 midterms will decide control of Congress, and President Donald Trump has escalated his campaign to exert control over how the elections are run, repeatedly claiming fraud in state-run voting systems without evidence, as Reuters noted in its report. Minnesota has faced heightened federal scrutiny of its elections this year: in September, federal prosecutors charged 10 people with illegally voting or registering to vote in Minnesota elections. Moriarty said she was unaware of any federal investigation into O'Keefe and Higby, and said the state charges were not meant to “send a message” — they were filed, she said, because what the two men are accused of doing is unlawful whether or not they intended to vote. She also said the system for spotting and documenting misconduct “functioned well during the primary,” and that her office is prepared for the general election.
What is solid
- O'Keefe and Higby were charged on October 28 with felony unlawful voting and identity theft in Hennepin County
- Neither man voted, obtained a ballot or signed a voter oath during the August 11 primary, prosecutors say
- Minnesota vouching covers proof of residence only — the person registering must still give an ID number or the last four digits of a Social Security number, and the voucher signs an oath under penalty of perjury
- Fewer than 0.6% of votes in the 2024 general election used vouching
What is only claimed
- Whether the August stunt exposed a genuine vulnerability in Minnesota's system, as the defendants say, or misrepresented how vouching works, as a Reuters fact check and the Secretary of State concluded
- Whether beginning a ballot application under another voter's name, without voting, should be prosecuted as unlawful voting — the county attorney says yes; the defendants' past statements suggest they see the operation as journalism
What happens next
The county attorney's announcement did not set out a first court date for either man; both cases will now move through Hennepin County District Court, where the state must prove the felony counts and the defendants can challenge whether their conduct — asking questions on camera, using real voters' names, but signing nothing and casting nothing — meets the legal definition of applying for a ballot under a false identity. That argument is likely to be the centre of the defence. For Minnesota election officials, the immediate task is the November 3 general election itself: Moriarty said her office has held regular meetings with Hennepin County elections staff in preparation for both the primary and the general election, and Simon's office says election judges statewide are trained to document exactly the kind of behaviour alleged here.