James O'Keefe and Cam Higby were charged with felony unlawful voting and identity theft by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, following an undercover exercise at several Minneapolis polling stations on Aug 11, 2024. The pair used the names of registered voters—some of whom were deceased or had already voted—to request ballots, then filmed the interactions for an investigation.
Prosecutors argue that merely testing the system is insufficient; the activists’ use of other people’s identities without permission violates Minnesota’s election law. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the absence of an actual vote does not negate the allegations: "I think it’s pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That’s not the question here."
The activists claimed their goal was to document how election workers handled the state’s vouching system, which allows a registered voter to confirm the address of a new registrant on Election Day. O'Keefe’s group, calling itself the "Justice League," released a statement insisting they did not cast ballots and that the exercise aimed to expose potential weaknesses. Higby posted on social media that Minnesota officials were attempting to imprison him for exposing election vulnerabilities.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon dismissed the videos as evidence that workers followed protocol, while the prosecutor’s office has never used these particular charges before 2021. The case will be heard in Hennepin County Court on Sep 3, 2024, where the defendants will face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to ₹1 crore, or both for each felony.
The fallout has already rippled beyond court filings. A local voting rights organization warned that the charges might chill investigative journalism, while a Minneapolis resident who voted early that day said he was shaken by the footage of activists pretending to be voters.
As the trial date approaches, both O'Keefe and Higby are expected to enter a plea. The legal outcome will set a precedent for how undercover election investigations are treated under Minnesota law.