Hennepin County Attorney charges political commentators for primary election vouching stunt

Two conservative political commentators have now been charged for their polling place impersonation, in which they highlighted Minnesota’s vouching laws during the state’s primary election.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the charges during a press conference on Wednesday morning.

The complaints charge James O’Keefe and Cam Higby, members of the Florida-based O’Keefe Media Group, with identity theft and unlawful voting.

Back in August, the two shared videos online in which at least one member of the “Justice League” is dressed in a burqa, and another man in the video can be heard using an accent to try to vouch for others.

What happened?

In the video posted online, someone in the O’Keefe and Higby group gave the first name “William” to a poll worker at Pratt Elementary School. When asked for a last name, they responded, “Pomeranz,” and then proceeded to ask about the state’s vouching law.

William Pomeranz is an actual registered voter in Minneapolis, although O’Keefe’s group said in a statement that, “The Justice League did not impersonate anyone. At no point did we claim to be William Pomerantz or any other voter. We stated a name and asked election workers questions about Minnesota’s vouching process.”

A man in the video can be heard using an accent to try to vouch for others, but O’Keefe’s group apparently left the polling place after being told he needed to sign an oath to vouch for someone.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says 0.6% of Minnesota voters were vouched for in 2024 — and Simon says he does not recall a case of vouching fraud during his tenure.

However, it’s up to local prosecutors to file charges for any election malfeasance, not the Secretary of State’s Office, which did confirm in August that law enforcement was “reviewing” the O’Keefe group video.

Moriarty said her office learned about these incidents through the Secretary of State’s office, adding that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office represents county election officers.

Two men accused of concealing identities to vote in primary

“They have a very good process for having election judges document any unusual behavior, and so that was documented. The Minneapolis Police Department did do some investigation, and one of our investigators did additional investigation,” Moriarty said.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to the spokespersons for O’Keefe Media Group but has not heard back.

How Minnesota’s vouching law works

To vote, all Minnesotans need to provide a valid ID card — driver’s license, state ID, etc. — that also includes their current address, or they can provide both an ID and an approved document (bill, lease agreement, etc.) that includes the address. Most voters don’t need to bring those documents on Election Day, as they take care of that by pre-registering, but those documents are required for same-day registration.

For Minnesotans who’ve recently moved or don’t yet have a document with their address, they can bring their ID and another registered voter from their same voting precinct, and that registered voter can vouch for the Minnesotan’s address by signing an oath to satisfy the document requirement for same-day registration.

According to the Secretary of State’s website, “The potential voter must still provide their Minnesota driver’s license or ID card number or the last four digits of their Social Security number for identity verification.”

Under the law, only voters registered in the same precinct as the person for whom they are vouching, or employees of authorized residential facilities who provide proof of their employment at the facility. Vouchers must sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they personally know the person being vouched for is a resident of the precinct. Anyone who has been vouched for cannot vouch for anyone else, but registered voters can vouch for up to eight voters in their same precinct.

Vouching law scrutiny

The video stirred up some controversy on the vouching law, but it’s not the first time the law has been scrutinized.

Back in January, the U.S. Department of Justice demanded Minnesota turn over all records related to the state’s vouching system of verifying voter residency. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon later tweeted that the vouching law “seems facially inconsistent with the Help America Vote Act of 2002.”

However, nothing has since been done by the DOJ, and a previous lawsuit filed by the DOJ against Minnesota regarding voter registration was dismissed by a judge.

Simon said O’Keefe and his group apparently had a goal “to cast doubt on one or more Minnesota election laws,” adding, “instead, they revealed their ignorance of how those laws actually work — while putting themselves in legal jeopardy.”

Reaction to charges

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to reached out to the spokespersons for O’Keefe Media Group but has not heard back.

However, both Cam Higby and James O’Keefe reacted to the charges on their X account, formerly Twitter

I showed how Minnesota allows cheating in elections.

Now they want to TAKE MY RIGHT TO VOTE AWAY. This is lawfare. They want to scare all independent journalists who may challenge them. This is FASCISM. https://t.co/fmb6v33F0T

— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) October 28, 2026

James O’Keefe on the Felony Charges for Exposing Fraud in Minnesota:

This is not political. It is fundamental. It is about whether citizens still have the right to question their government. This is now a landmark First Amendment case, and every American’s right to speak truth… pic.twitter.com/vBbkaW0Rk4

— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) October 29, 2026

This is a breaking news story. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is still reviewing charging documents and working to learn more about the process that led to charges. Download the KSTP app below for additional updates.

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