What the charges allege
A Minnesota prosecutor on Wednesday charged conservative provocateur James O'Keefe and influencer Cam Higby with felony counts of unlawful voting and identity theft, according to NBC News. The charges stem from visits to polling places during Minnesota's state primary on Aug. 11.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who announced the charges at a news conference, said the two men entered polling places and identified themselves using the names of registered voters in those precincts. She said the voters had not given knowledge or permission.
Moriarty acknowledged that the men did not go all the way through the process. "Both men stopped short of signing the oath we all sign before receiving our ballot," she said. But she added, "Minnesota law states clearly that no individual shall intentionally misrepresent their identity in applying for a ballot."
The vouching system and the videos
According to NBC News, O'Keefe and Higby were using a process under Minnesota law known as vouching, which lets people vouch for other voters on Election Day. A registered voter who lives in the same precinct can vouch for up to eight voters, while staff members of residential facilities can vouch for their residents.
The pair disguised themselves and recorded their interactions with hidden cameras, then posted the videos on social media in August. O'Keefe wrote on X that they dressed in "Muslim garb," including a full-face veil known as a niqab for one of them. He said their goal was to "expose the sheer lunacy of Minnesota's 'vouching' system."
What officials are saying
Moriarty said her office learned of the conduct from the office of Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. She said police interviewed the registered voters whose names were used, and that the pair also used the names of deceased voters. Asked where the men got the names, she said, "We don't know that."
After the videos surfaced in August, Simon said in a statement that the men's "apparent goal was to cast doubt on one or more Minnesota election laws that have been in force for over fifty years." He said they instead "revealed their ignorance of how those laws actually work — while putting themselves in legal jeopardy."
Simon also called the conduct "outrageous and totally unacceptable," adding, "We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places."
Background and next steps
Moriarty said O'Keefe and Higby are not in jail and will be issued a summons to appear in court in Minnesota. NBC News reported that neither man immediately responded to requests for comment.
The case comes as President Donald Trump has alleged for years that Democrats have committed voter fraud or rigged elections against him. NBC News reported that the Trump administration has targeted Democratic-controlled states by seeking state voter roll lists and trying to identify alleged noncitizen voters.
O'Keefe has been linked to earlier voter fraud-related controversies. In 2024, he and Project Veritas, which he founded, settled a lawsuit brought by a Pennsylvania postmaster after the group promoted a postal worker's false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. He was removed as head of the group in 2023. Higby, a former journalist for conservative outlets, now runs a YouTube account with 285,000 subscribers.
