Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced criminal charges on Wednesday against two conservative political commenters involved in an August polling place stunt designed to test Minnesota’s voter registration and vouching laws.
The complaints charge James O’Keefe and Cam Higby, members of the Florida-based O’Keefe Media Group, with identity theft and unlawful voting. The charges stem from an incident during the state’s primary election at Pratt Elementary School, where members of the group shared online videos documenting their visit to a polling place.
According to the video footage and subsequent reports, an individual in the group provided the first name William and the last name Pomeranz to a poll worker while asking questions about the state’s vouching process. William Pomeranz is an actual registered voter in Minneapolis. However, the O’Keefe Media Group released a statement defending their actions, asserting that the group did not impersonate anyone and never claimed to be Pomeranz or any other specific voter, but rather stated a name while inquiring about election procedures. The video also captured a man using an accent while attempting to vouch for others, though the group reportedly left the polling location after being informed that a signed oath was required to vouch for a voter.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon addressed the incident, stating that the group’s apparent goal was to cast doubt on state election laws but instead demonstrated a misunderstanding of how those laws function while placing themselves in legal jeopardy. Simon noted that approximately 0.6% of Minnesota voters were vouched for during the 2024 election and stated that he did not recall any previous instances of vouching fraud during his tenure. While the Secretary of State’s Office does not handle criminal prosecutions, officials confirmed in August that law enforcement was reviewing the video.
Under Minnesota election statutes, individuals must provide a valid ID showing their current address or combine an ID with an approved secondary document such as a utility bill or lease agreement. While pre-registered voters do not need these documents on Election Day, same-day registrants do. For residents who have recently moved or lack address documentation, Minnesota law allows another registered voter from the same precinct to vouch for the applicant’s address by signing an oath under penalty of perjury.
Vouchers must provide their own identification numbers, be registered in the same precinct, or work as authorized residential facility employees. Vouchers must personally know the person they are vouching for, cannot have been vouched for themselves, and are limited to vouching for up to eight individuals in a single precinct.
The state’s vouching system has faced broader scrutiny outside of the recent primary incident. In January, the U.S. Department of Justice requested that Minnesota surrender all records concerning its voter residency vouching system. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon expressed via social media that the statute appeared facially inconsistent with the Help America Vote Act of 2002. However, federal authorities have taken no further formal action, and a prior DOJ lawsuit regarding Minnesota voter registration was dismissed by a judge.
Following the announcement of the charges, Cam Higby posted a reaction on social media criticizing the legal action as an attempt to strip away voting rights and intimidate independent journalists, characterizing the prosecution as politically motivated.
