By Ryan Patrick Jones
Oct 28 (Reuters) - A Minnesota prosecutor charged conservative activist James O'Keefe and influencer Cam Higby on Wednesday with felony unlawful voting and identity theft for posing as registered voters at Minnesota polling places during the August primary as part of a hidden-camera stunt they later posted online.
O'Keefe, 42, and Higby, 26, filmed themselves visiting several precincts in Minneapolis and misrepresented their identities by giving election judges the names of registered
voters without those voters' knowledge or permission, according to a criminal complaint.
The pair were attempting to use Minnesota's vouching system, which allows a registered voter to confirm the residency of up to eight others so they can register and vote the same day, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.
Moriarty, the chief elected prosecutor in Minneapolis, said at a news conference that the pair posted the videos to social media in an attempt "cast doubt" on the state's voting system.
O'Keefe Media Group and Higby, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, have in the past characterized their activities as an attempt to expose the potential for fraud.
The state charges by a Democratic prosecutor come as President Donald Trump, a Republican, escalates a campaign to exert control over the country’s November midterm elections. Trump has often claimed fraud without evidence in voting systems and procedures, which are run by states in the US.
Moriarty said that while neither man voted, the charges were appropriate because they initiated the process of receiving ballots using the names of registered voters, some of whom were dead.
"You cannot begin to apply for a ballot and misrepresent yourself," Moriarty told reporters.
"Elections are the bedrock of democracy and their protection is one of our highest priorities," she said in a statement. "Individuals engaging in unlawful conduct related to our elections will be held accountable."
O'Keefe founded Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for making videos targeting ideological opponents and often accused of using deceptive tactics and editing. He left the organization in 2023 and has since launched O'Keefe Media Group.
Higby is an independent journalist and conservative political commentator known for filming videos at protests and debating students on college campuses.
Minnesota law allows a registered voter in a precinct to vouch for up to eight other voters, but only as proof of residence. The prospective voter must still provide a Minnesota driver's license or ID number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number, to verify identity. Vouchers must sign an oath under penalty of perjury, and the form is retained for at least 22 months.
A video O'Keefe posted on social media on August 13, two days after Minnesota's primary, misrepresented the state's election vouching law, a Reuters fact check article previously found.
A version of the video that the prosecutors quote from in the criminal complaint was posted on August 14 on YouTube, with the title "I Wore Burqa To EXPOSE Election FRAUD In Minneapolis".
In the video, Higby poses as a woman in a face-concealing burqa while O'Keefe - affecting an accent and using two false names - asked poll workers at multiple sites if he could vouch for his companions to register them so they could vote that day.
The video shows the group leaving each site after asking the question without attempting to complete a registration.
Higby says in the video that he posed as a veiled Muslim women in order to "point out the vulnerabilities in the system and how easily exploitable it is. I mean, I walked into a polling station with my face covered and non-visible."
The office of Secretary of State Steve Simon said in an August 14 statement that the video was heavily edited and reflected ignorance of Minnesota election law. In the 2024 general election, fewer than 0.6% of votes cast used the vouching process.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Donna Bryson and Lincoln Feast.)
