Hennepin County Charges James O'Keefe and Cam Higby With Felonies Over August Polling-Place Videos

Hennepin County prosecutors on Wednesday, Oct. 28, charged conservative activists James O'Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26, with felony unlawful voting and identity theft. The charges come from hidden-camera videos the pair shot at Minneapolis polling places during Minnesota's Aug. 11 primary.

The complaints allege the men gave election judges the names of real registered voters in those precincts, without the voters' knowledge or permission. Some of the names belonged to people who had died. At least one belonged to a man who had already voted in the primary.

Neither man signed the voucher oath. Neither cast a ballot. Prosecutors say that does not matter.

What the charges say

Minnesota law bars anyone from intentionally misrepresenting their identity when applying for a ballot. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says the pair did that the moment they gave a false name.

"You cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself and use other people's identities to our election judges as you apply for a ballot, whether or not you intend to vote," Moriarty said. She added: "I think it's pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That's not the question here."

Moriarty said signing the oath to vouch for someone else's residence would have been felony perjury, and that both men stopped short of it. She described vouching as a multi-step process and said the pair began it.

She also said election judges noticed the men's "strange behavior" and flagged it to police. In her telling, the case could have been brought without the videos. Police interviewed the living voters whose names were used, and Moriarty said they had no knowledge of the effort. Asked where the men got the names, she said, "We don't know that."

The Secretary of State's office alerted her office to the conduct, Moriarty said. Secretary of State Steve Simon said poll workers did exactly what they were supposed to do, and that the state has "zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places."

The stunt

O'Keefe, the Project Veritas founder who was fired by that group's board in 2023 and now runs O'Keefe Media Group, said the team dressed in what he called "traditional Muslim attire." At least one wore a full-face veil. His stated goal was to "expose the sheer lunacy of Minnesota's 'vouching' system."

In the footage, team members asked election judges how vouching works, then left when told they would have to sign an oath. Higby said in one video that the plan was to see whether workers would let them vote without IDs and let them vouch for people who were not registered.

The videos had been viewed more than 7 million times by mid-August. Moriarty said they were deceptively edited. She also said there is no such thing as an undercover investigation inside a polling place, and that anyone acting as a journalist must identify themselves as one.

The defense

Higby rejects the charges. "I never voted, I never signed an affidavit, and I never violated a law," he told WCCO. On X he called the case "lawfare" and said prosecutors "want to scare all independent journalists who may challenge them." He linked to a fundraising page for his legal costs.

O'Keefe's group said in an August release that no ballots were cast and that the project was meant to "test the limits of Minnesota's vouching law and document how election workers apply it on Election Day."

The legal question is narrow. The statute covers misrepresenting identity "in applying for a ballot," and the defense says nobody applied for one. Prosecutors say giving a name to the election judge is the application.

The vouching law

Vouching is a 53-year-old Minnesota provision. A registered voter in a precinct can swear to an unregistered neighbor's address, and can vouch for up to eight people. Staff of residential facilities can vouch for their residents. Moriarty said seniors who have not updated their driver's licenses after moving into nursing homes often use it.

The Secretary of State's website says fewer than 0.6% of votes in the 2024 general election went through vouching. Vouchers sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they personally know the person they are vouching for.

O'Keefe's critique of the system has an audience. Election-integrity advocates, including many conservatives, have long pushed for photo ID and tighter registration checks, and the videos were built to make that case. Minnesota officials say the oath requirement is the safeguard, and the workers on camera pointed to it.

State court records show the election-interference charges used here have been brought only once since 2021, according to MPR News.

What comes next

The charges land days before the Nov. 3 midterms. CNN noted they also arrive as the Trump administration has sent several states lists of alleged noncitizens on voter rolls.

O'Keefe and Higby have not been arrested. They will receive summonses, and an initial court appearance is set for Nov. 16. Moriarty said her office is prepared for the general election and that the charges are not meant to "send a message."

A judge will have to decide whether the statute reaches a person who gives a real voter's name to an election judge but never signs the oath or takes a ballot. No court has yet addressed that question in this case.