Conservative activists James O’Keefe and Cameron Higby charged with felonies in Minnesota primary case

Hennepin County prosecutors announced Wednesday that James O’Keefe, a conservative activist, and Cameron Higby have been charged with felonies for unlawful voting and identity theft after they filmed themselves presenting false identities to election judges during Minnesota’s Aug. 11 primary.

County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the investigation began after the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office alerted her that O’Keefe, Higby and others were attempting to exploit the state’s voter-vouching system. The videos released by O’Keefe’s operation show the pair wearing burkas outside precincts and using the names of deceased residents and at least one living voter to try to vouch for unregistered individuals.

In the recordings, O’Keefe, speaking with an accent, asks poll workers if he can vouch for other voters, prompting the workers to explain the legal limits of vouching while a team member films.

“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,” Higby said in a YouTube video.

Secretary of State Steve Simon later said poll workers acted appropriately to protect election integrity. Moriarty emphasized that the charges relate to misrepresenting identities, not to the act of voting itself.

“I think it’s pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That’s not the question here,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty noted that while neither man signed the oath required for a legitimate vouch, providing another person’s name and misidentifying oneself during the voting process is illegal. She added that the Secretary of State’s office had notified her of the alleged misconduct, prompting the criminal investigation.

Minnesota law permits registered voters to vouch for up to eight unregistered voters by signing an oath confirming the latter’s address, a measure intended to facilitate same-day registration.

In an August press release, O’Keefe’s group, the “Justice League,” claimed the participants did not cast ballots and that the experiment was meant to test the limits of the vouching law.

“It is not against the law to be performative. It is not against the law to be offensive,” Moriarty told reporters, adding that misidentifying oneself to election judges is prohibited.