O'Keefe Charged Over Minnesota Voting Stunt

James O'Keefe's latest hidden-camera gambit has landed him in court. The conservative activist and fellow content creator Cam Higby have been charged in Minnesota with felony unlawful voting and identity theft over a video stunt at a Minneapolis polling place, where they donned mock Islamic clothing and used fake accents while interacting with election workers, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors say O'Keefe and Higby pretended to be registered Minnesota voters on the state's Aug. 11 primary day to test the state's long-standing "vouching" law, though no fraudulent ballots were cast.

Prosecutors say the pair gave polling place workers the names and addresses of four registered voters who had not authorized them to use their identities, the Washington Post reports. The Minnesota law allows registered voters to vouch for the addresses of people who have recently moved to a precinct. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the process, which accounted for 0.6% of votes in the 2024 election, is used mainly by senior citizens who haven't updated their addresses on identity forms.

• Moriarty said felony penalties are a "strong deterrent for people not to misuse the vouching process," the Hill reports. "There are safeguards here," she said. "If you sign that oath and you are lying about it or misrepresenting it, it is a felony."

Steve Simon, Minnesota's secretary of state, condemned the conduct as "outrageous and totally unacceptable," the Times reports. "We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places," he said. Higby, who insists he broke no law, quickly launched a fundraiser labeled "Minnesota Burqa Lawfare." O'Keefe's stunts have landed him in legal trouble numerous times before. He was sentenced to three years of probation after he posed as a phone repairman in 2010 to enter the New Orleans office of then-Sen. Mary Landrieu.

• Moriarty said the charges were not connected to the men's costumes, fake accents, or conservative political leanings. "None of that played a role," she said. "The fundamental issue here is you cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself and use other people's identity and say that to our election judges as you apply for a ballot, whether or not you intend to vote."