Felony Charges Filed Against Right-Wing Influencers James O’Keefe and Cameron Higby Over Minnesota Polling Station Stunt
Right-wing influencers James O’Keefe and Cameron Higby face felony counts of unlawful voting and identity theft after visiting Minnesota polling places with concealed cameras during the state’s August primary, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced. According to criminal complaints, the pair attempted to register to vote by using the names of real voters, some of whom were alive while others were deceased. The investigation into the incident culminated just days before the November 3 midterm elections.
The two activists disguised themselves in what O’Keefe described on X as “traditional Muslim attire” as part of an effort to test Minnesota’s voter vouching process. That system allows a registered voter in a precinct to vouch that another individual resides at a specific address, a mechanism Moriarty noted is frequently utilized by senior citizens who have not updated driver’s licenses after moving into nursing homes. Prosecutors stated that O’Keefe and Higby stopped their attempt when informed they would need to sign oaths to vouch for someone else’s residence, and ultimately no votes were cast.
“You cannot give somebody else’s name and misrepresent yourself,” Moriarty said. “Whether or not they intended to vote is irrelevant.” Election judges on the scene flagged the behavior as strange and contacted local law enforcement. Living voters whose names the pair attempted to use confirmed they had no knowledge of the stunt. Moriarty added that online videos published of the endeavor were deceptively edited, noting that “there’s no such thing as ‘undercover’ investigation in the polling place.”
I went undercover in Minneapolis, Michigan on Primary Election Day with @anthonyjrubin, founder of @realmuckraker and @camhigby, members of the Justice League and OMG undercover journalists to put Minnesota’s voter “vouching” system to the test.Under Minnesota’s Statutes §…
Charges Follow O'Keefe's Departure from Project Veritas
The charges arrive just ahead of midterm elections. The development also parallels efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to send lists of alleged noncitizens on voter rolls to various states, intensifying debates over voter eligibility and unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.
O’Keefe, 42, previously founded the right-wing activist group Project Veritas, which targeted journalists in sting videos that were often deceptively edited. Following his departure after being fired by the Project Veritas board in 2023, O’Keefe established the O’Keefe Media Group to continue producing videos that he claims take aim at corruption. Neither O’Keefe nor Higby immediately responded to email messages seeking comment on the felony charges.
“Minnesota’s enduring tradition of high voter turnout and excellence in elections administration is due in part to the work we all do to keep polling places as ‘islands of calm,'” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement. “These locations — our communities’ schools, churches, and senior centers – are the heart of our democracy and as such should be places of safety and peace. Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated.”
Upcoming Court Proceedings
While formal arrests have not yet occurred, both men will receive copies of the criminal complaints alongside notification of their scheduled court appearance dates issued by the county clerk. Moriarty clarified that the prosecution is targeted rather than symbolic. “This is not meant to send a message. It’s meant for these particular people to understand that what they did was unlawful,” she stated.
