James O’Keefe, the conservative provocateur known for undercover video stings, has been charged with felonies in Minnesota for allegedly misrepresenting his identity to election judges during the state’s August 11 primary. Hennepin County prosecutors announced the charges Wednesday against O’Keefe and Cameron Higby, citing unlawful voting and identity theft.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office was alerted by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office that O’Keefe, Higby, and others were attempting to undermine the state’s vouching system. Videos posted by O’Keefe’s operation show the men wearing burkas outside polling precincts. Some of the voter names they used belonged to dead residents, and at least one belonged to a person who had already voted.
In one video posted to YouTube, Higby explains the plan directly to the camera. “Alright guys, it’s Election Day in Minneapolis. James O’Keefe and I are going to go around the city to different polling stations and we’re going to see if they’re going to allow us to vote without IDs and then we’re going to see if they are going to allow us to vouch for other people who aren’t even registered to vote,” he said. In the footage, O’Keefe uses an accent while asking poll workers whether he can vouch for other voters, as a team member films the exchange. The group then walks out without completing any transaction.
Moriarty acknowledged that neither man actually signed the vouching oath, which she said would have constituted felony perjury. But she drew a firm line. “You cannot give somebody else’s name and misrepresent yourself as you go through the process,” she said. “It is not against the law to be performative. It is not against the law to be offensive,” she added, but entering a polling place and misidentifying yourself to election judges crosses into criminal conduct. According to the Minnesota voter fraud charges, the specific election interference statutes used against O’Keefe and Higby have been applied only once since 2021.
Secretary of State Steve Simon said the poll workers handled the situation correctly. “I think it’s pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That’s not the question here,” Moriarty said, echoing that point but stressing the identity misrepresentation itself is what triggered the charges. Simon said in a statement that Minnesota’s tradition of strong elections depends on keeping polling places orderly and that “any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated.”
O’Keefe’s group, which calls itself the “Justice League,” put out a press release in August saying the people in the video “did not cast ballots” and that the operation was meant to test Minnesota’s vouching law. After Wednesday’s announcement, Higby took to social media to fundraise, claiming Minnesota officials wanted to imprison him “for exposing election vulnerabilities in their state” and denying that he broke any laws. O’Keefe has faced criminal charges tied to his videos before and was caught by Washington Post reporters in 2017 attempting to pitch them a false story.
An initial court appearance for both men is scheduled for November 16. Share your thoughts on this story in the comments or on social media.
