Conservative influencers face charges after posing as voters to test Minnesota’s ‘vouching’ system
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Right-wing activists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby face felony charges after allegedly using registered voters’ identities without their knowledge or consent during an undercover attempt to test Minnesota’s election security system.
The two came under scrutiny after poll workers flagged their “strange behavior” while they filmed visits to multiple Minneapolis polling locations. The incident centered on Minnesota’s voter-vouching system, which allows registered voters to confirm the residency of others seeking to register and vote on the same day.
James Edward O’Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26, both face felony charges of unlawful voting and identity theft. Polling places are the heart of our democracy. Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated. Watch: https://t.co/LH1Q5m224J https://t.co/NMPizpONcN
— Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty (@HennepinAtty) October 28, 2026
James O’Keefe and Cam Higby test Minnesota’s election security system
O’Keefe, a self-described "guerrilla journalist" known for his undercover videos, and Higby, a social media influencer, posted the video at the center of the charges in August, following Minnesota’s state primary election.
In the footage, the two appeared in costumes resembling attire worn by some Muslim women and used fake accents while asking about the voter-vouching process at multiple Minneapolis polling locations.
Higby’s face was covered, and O’Keefe referred to him as his wife while speaking with poll workers.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who announced the charges against the two on Wednesday, October 28, said both men “identified themselves using names of registered voters in the precinct without those voters’ knowledge or permission.”
🚨 HOLY CRAP! THIS is the video that Minnesota leftist prosecutors charged Cam Higby with a FELONY over He dressed as a Muslim and asked if he could vote with ZERO ID under Minnesota's "vouching" system "Do we need ID?" WORKER: "NOPE!" 🤯 HIGBY: "I have 7 other people who I live with." And the worker says those people can be vouched for to, and "NO ID FOR ANY" This man exposed a corrupt election system and their answer is to criminally charge him, despite NO BALLOTS BEING CAST in this case Minnesota is becoming like a 3rd world nation. Its elections are corrupt and voters need to elect Republicans to make it stop! https://t.co/HpbwIFsGBe
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 28, 2026
According to Moriarty, poll workers flagged the men’s “strange behavior” to election officials, who then asked police to investigate.
Although O’Keefe and Higby stopped short of signing the required oath to complete the voter-vouching process, Moriarty said their alleged use of false names and initiation of the process were sufficient to warrant felony charges.
“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of democracy, and their protection is one of our highest priorities,” Moriarty said.
At the time, Higby captioned the video: "I dressed as a Muslim woman and Minneapolis poll workers were prepared to allow me and an army of other foreigners to fraudulently vote without verifying who any of us are."
State law prohibits anyone from deliberately misrepresenting their identity when applying for a ballot, placing a ballot in a ballot box, or attempting to vote using a voting machine or electronic voting system.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, the state's chief election officer, said in a statement on Wednesday that "any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated".
Cam Higby calls Minnesota voting charges ‘lawfare’
In social media posts after the charges were announced, Higby called them “lawfare” and claimed “no laws were broken” while linking to a fundraising site to cover his legal expenses.
“I showed how Minnesota allows cheating in elections. Now they want to TAKE MY RIGHT TO VOTE AWAY. This is lawfare,” he wrote on X, adding “They want to scare all independent journalists who may challenge them. This is FASCISM.”
O’Keefe’s organization, O’Keefe Media Group, also released a statement about the charges and the video on its website, saying the men presented “an intentionally extreme scenario to expose what they see as the lunacy of the state’s ‘vouching’ system.”
“The team wanted to determine how election workers would respond, what safeguards they would describe, and how far they would allow the vouching process to proceed,” the statement said.
“Not every election worker reacted the same way. While several workers explained how the undercover team could proceed under the vouching rules, others became suspicious of the group and took issue with the investigation. Some workers communicated concerns about the team over their radios.”
James O’Keefe’s past voter fraud-related controversy
O’Keefe has been involved in other voter fraud-related incidents. In 2024, he and Project Veritas, which he founded, settled a lawsuit brought by a Pennsylvania postmaster after the group promoted a postal worker’s false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
O’Keefe was removed as the head of Project Veritas in 2023.
