Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has filed felony charges against conservative activist James O’Keefe and Cam Higby over an undercover operation the two conducted at Minneapolis polling places during Minnesota’s August primary.
James Edward O’Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26, each face charges of unlawful voting and identity theft, according to Moriarty’s office.
The operation targeted Minnesota’s “vouching” system, which allows a registered voter to sign a sworn statement vouching for up to eight other eligible voters who live in the same precinct, letting those people register and vote on Election Day without producing the standard proof of residence.
Undercover video released by O’Keefe’s team shows the two men entering multiple Minneapolis precincts dressed in what they described as Muslim attire and using foreign accents. They gave poll workers the names of real registered voters and asked about the mechanics of the vouching rules.
In the footage, one election worker tells O’Keefe, “You’re the ID,” referring to how a registered voter can serve as identification for people being vouched for. Another worker, asked about vouching for unregistered individuals, responds, “I can vouch for them. They are not registered… That’s okay. That’s fine. Yeah!” A third explains the limit: “If you’re all in the same precinct and you are already registered, you can vouch for them as ID. Eight people.”
Neither O’Keefe nor Higby signed the oath required before receiving a ballot, and neither actually received a ballot. Moriarty’s office argues that does not shield them from prosecution.
“Both men stopped short of signing the oath we all sign before receiving our ballot,” Moriarty said. “But Minnesota law states clearly that no individual shall intentionally misrepresent their identity in applying for a ballot.”
Moriarty also said polling places are “the heart of our democracy” and that “any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated.”
O’Keefe’s group has said the operation was meant to test how the vouching system functions in practice. Moriarty’s office maintains the two men intentionally misrepresented their identities to election officials.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, backed the prosecution, calling the group’s conduct “outrageous and totally unacceptable” and saying the state has “zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places.”
Separate federal case over noncitizen voting
The charges against O’Keefe and Higby come a month after the Department of Justice indicted 10 foreign nationals on charges of illegally voting and registering in Minnesota elections. Attorney General Todd Blanche said those charges cover the 2022 and 2024 general elections as well as the August 2026 primary, and include nine counts of illegal voting by a noncitizen and nine counts of making a false claim of citizenship to register.
“Voter fraud erodes the public’s trust in our electoral system, and it’s vital to our democratic process that we do everything that we can to restore that trust,” Blanche said.
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