Conservative activists James O'Keefe and Cam Higby were charged on Wednesday, October 28, with felony unlawful voting and identity theft, accused of giving Minneapolis election judges the names of real registered voters while filming a video during Minnesota's August 11 primary.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office announced the charges against James Edward O'Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26. Prosecutors allege the two visited multiple Hennepin County precincts and gave election judges the names of registered voters in each precinct without those voters' knowledge or permission, then posted the videos online. Neither man cast a ballot, and neither signed the voter oath, according to the office. The case numbers are 27-CR-26-28438 for O'Keefe and 27-CR-26-28437 for Higby. Both men are presumed innocent.
What the stunt was
O'Keefe, who founded Project Veritas, left it in 2023 and now runs O'Keefe Media Group, and Higby, a conservative commentator, said they were testing Minnesota's voter vouching law. The video O'Keefe posted on August 13 showed Higby in a burqa and O'Keefe using an accent and two false names while asking poll workers whether he could vouch for his companions, Minnesota Lawyer reported. The group left each site without completing a registration.
FOX 9 reported that the complaints describe visits to four precincts and four impersonated voters. CBS Minnesota counted three polling places and reported that the video shows O'Keefe giving election officials the name of a real voter, William Pomeranz, who said he learned about it afterward and voted that evening without a problem.
What the law says
The charges rest on Minnesota Statutes section 204C.14, which says no one shall intentionally misrepresent their identity "in applying for a ballot," in depositing a ballot, or in attempting to vote by machine. The statute ends with one sentence: "A violation of this section is a felony." The identity theft count falls under section 609.527, which covers using an identity that is not your own with intent to commit unlawful activity, and scales the penalty to the number of direct victims and the size of any loss.
That is why the case turns on the words "applying for a ballot." The defense line is already public. "I never voted, I never signed an affidavit, and I never violated a law," Higby said in a statement reported by CBS Minnesota. County Attorney Mary Moriarty answered that point directly. "You cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself," she said, according to CBS, adding that the law reaches people who use other identities with election judges as they apply for a ballot, "whether or not you intend to vote." She told FOX 9 that it is "a multi-step process" and that "They did begin to apply."
Our analysis: what the numbers say about punishment
Felony is the label, but the realistic exposure is far lower. Minnesota's general felony penalty, in section 609.03, allows up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine when a statute sets no other maximum, and section 204C.14 sets none. Moriarty herself predicted "presumptive probation" under state sentencing guidelines, FOX 9 reported, and said "They could do some local jail time, but it's a low level offense in terms of Minnesota felonies."
The newsroom's arithmetic on the vouching system the video targeted: the Secretary of State's office says fewer than 0.6% of votes in the 2024 general election used vouching. That is fewer than 6 of every 1,000 ballots. Vouching also does not replace identity. Under state law a registered voter may vouch for up to eight people, but only to prove where they live, and the new voter must still give a Minnesota driver's license or ID number or the last four digits of a Social Security number, according to Minnesota Lawyer. The voucher signs an oath under penalty of perjury.
Secretary of State Steve Simon said in the county's release that any attempt to disrupt or deceive election workers "will not be tolerated." Moriarty said the system for spotting misconduct "functioned well during the primary," CBS reported, and that the charges were not meant to "send a message."
What happens next
Higby was charged by summons, according to Forum News Service, which listed O'Keefe as a resident of West Palm Beach, Florida. Neither O'Keefe nor Higby responded to requests for comment from Minnesota Lawyer. The charges land days before the November 3 general election, while federal authorities are pressing their own election cases, including the grand jury subpoenas we covered in Federal Subpoenas for Voter Records Reach at Least 13 States and the record federal monitoring plan in Justice Department Plans Record 1,000 Election Monitors.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
