Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged right-wing influencers James O’Keefe and Cam Higby on Wednesday with felony counts of unlawful voting and identity theft, according to NBC News. The charges relate to their appearance at Minnesota polling places on Aug. 11 during the state’s primary election. Moriarty said the pair identified themselves with the names of registered voters in those precincts without the voters’ knowledge or permission.
The influencers entered the locations and sought ballots under those names, according to the prosecutor. Moriarty noted that both men stopped short of completing the process that voters normally follow. She described their actions as a clear violation of state rules on how people must identify themselves when requesting a ballot.
“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.”
Undercover recordings and use of the state’s vouching rules
O’Keefe and Higby relied on a Minnesota practice called vouching to carry out the effort. Under the rules, a registered voter living in the same precinct may vouch for as many as eight other people on Election Day, while staff at residential facilities may vouch for residents there. The two men recorded the interactions with hidden cameras after disguising themselves and later posted the footage on social media in August.
O’Keefe wrote on X that they wore “Muslim garb,” including a full-face veil known as a niqab for one of them. He described the purpose of the effort as an attempt to “expose the sheer lunacy of Minnesota’s ‘vouching’ system.” The office of Secretary of State Steve Simon notified Moriarty’s office about the conduct once the videos circulated.
Simon later released a statement saying the pair’s “apparent goal was to cast doubt on one or more Minnesota election laws that have been in force for over fifty years. Instead, they revealed their ignorance of how those laws actually work – while putting themselves in legal jeopardy.”
He added, “The misconduct by this group is outrageous and totally unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places.”
Police spoke with the registered voters whose names were used, Moriarty said. She also stated that the influencers used names belonging to deceased people. When asked how the pair obtained the names, she replied, “We don’t know that.”
Neither man is currently in custody. Moriarty said authorities will issue summonses requiring them to appear in a Minnesota court. Requests for comment from O’Keefe and Higby drew no immediate response.
President Donald Trump has long claimed that Democrats have engaged in voter fraud or rigged elections against him. His administration has sought voter registration lists from Democratic-led states and worked to identify people it says are noncitizens on the rolls.
O’Keefe previously faced scrutiny over election-related claims. In 2024, he and Project Veritas, the group he founded, settled a lawsuit filed by a Pennsylvania postmaster after the organization promoted a postal worker’s false statements about voter fraud in the 2020 election.
O’Keefe was removed as the leader of Project Veritas in 2023. Higby, who once worked as a journalist for conservative outlets, now runs a YouTube channel that has 285,000 subscribers. Election fraud cases have also reached other election integrity campaigners, including a candidate found guilty of nine election fraud counts.
Published: Oct 29, 2026 07:00 am