Minnesota Voting Stunt Charges Hit O'Keefe and Higby

Hennepin County prosecutors charged conservative activist James O'Keefe and influencer Cam Higby on October 28 with felony unlawful voting and identity theft, in the Minnesota voting stunt charges arising from a hidden camera operation at Minneapolis polling places during the August primary. The pair filmed themselves visiting several precincts and giving election judges the names of registered voters without those voters' knowledge or permission, according to a criminal complaint, which Reuters reported.

The charges are allegations, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. That distinction matters here because the case is not about ballots being cast in someone else's name. Prosecutors say neither man voted, and the Minnesota voting stunt charges turn instead on the steps they took while applying for ballots, using other people's identities in the process.

What prosecutors allege

According to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, O'Keefe and Higby used registered voters' identities while speaking with election judges at Hennepin County polling places during the August 11 primary. FOX 9 reported that the charging allegations involve four precincts and four voters' identities. In one interaction, Higby allegedly provided a name and address matching a registered voter, while the video's narration acknowledged he was not that person, according to that report.

Some of the names used belonged to people who had since died, while others belonged to living voters, including one man who had already voted in the primary and was shocked to learn his name had been used, prosecutors said. Investigators do not yet know where the pair obtained the names, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference announcing the Minnesota voting stunt charges.

Moriarty said the men stopped when told they would have to sign oaths to vouch for someone else's residence, and neither man actually cast a vote. That does not settle the matter under state law, she argued, because the application process has multiple steps and giving election judges another voter's identity was part of that process. "You cannot begin to apply for a ballot and misrepresent yourself," Moriarty told reporters, according to Reuters.

How vouching works in Minnesota

The operation was aimed at Minnesota's vouching system, a decades old provision that allows a registered voter to verify the identity and residence of up to eight other eligible voters on Election Day. At the heart of the Minnesota voting stunt charges is whether that system was tested or abused. The provision is designed to help people who have recently moved or have not updated their registration information, letting them register and vote in their new precinct on the same day after a voter already registered in that precinct vouches for them.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon addressed the video in an August 14 statement, saying it was heavily edited and reflected ignorance of Minnesota election law, according to Minnesota Lawyer's report on the case. In the 2024 general election, fewer than one percent of votes cast used the vouching process, the report noted. Simon said in a statement on October 28 that polling places should be places of safety and peace, and that any attempt to disrupt or deceive election workers will not be tolerated.

The distinction between vouching and impersonation sits at the center of the case, and it is the distinction the Minnesota voting stunt charges will turn on. Vouching lets a registered voter attest to another person's residence. It does not authorize borrowing an existing voter's identity for a content project, and prosecutors say that is exactly what the pair did when they handed over names that were not their own.

The defense, and what happens next

Higby disputes that he broke the law. In a statement reported by FOX 9, he said the investigation was intended to expose vulnerabilities in Minnesota's voting system, and said he neither voted nor signed an affidavit. His position is that the video tested the system rather than committed fraud, a framing O'Keefe echoed in his own response to the Minnesota voting stunt charges.

O'Keefe, who founded Project Veritas and now heads O'Keefe Media Group, said in a video and a written statement released on October 28 that he and Higby had been acting as investigative journalists and never intended to complete the voucher process. He called the case a landmark First Amendment matter and argued that citizens retain the right to question their government, according to Headline USA's report on his statement. He also said the pair were careful with their wording when giving names to poll workers, a point prosecutors are likely to test against the footage itself.

That clash of framings will now play out in court, where prosecutors must prove the Minnesota voting stunt charges beyond the allegations in the complaint. The case arrives days before the November midterm elections, in a national argument over voting rules that has already produced plenty of heat and very little agreement. Our earlier reporting on a fake ballot victory post fooling voters showed how quickly election claims can travel online, and our earlier reporting on voter register photos under investigation covered a separate case where election records drew official scrutiny. In Minnesota, the question is narrower, and it will be decided on evidence: whether starting a ballot application under someone else's name breaks the law, even when no vote is ever cast.