O’Keefe and Higby charged with felony voting counts in Minnesota

The charges

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe, 42, and activist Cam Higby, 26, with felony unlawful voting and identity theft for a concealed-camera stunt during Minnesota's Aug. 11, 2026 primary, Straight Arrow News and CNN reported.

Prosecutors say the men entered multiple precincts wearing Muslim-style garments, gave election judges names of registered voters — including at least one deceased person — without those voters' consent, and stopped short of signing the oath required to cast a ballot. No ballots were cast, according to charging accounts summarized by ABC News and CBS News.

Each felony count carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Initial court appearances are set for Nov. 16. NBC News and the Washington Examiner likewise report the dual felony counts and the claim that the men presented other people's identities to election judges.

How each side frames it

Left-leaning coverage describes the charges as a defense of election rules and treats the stunt as a threat to public trust in the vouching process. Right-leaning coverage, including Breitbart and The Post Millennial, portrays the case as an attempt to punish journalists who probe election procedures and argues the stunt exposed weaknesses in the vouching law.

Minnesota's vouching process accounted for less than 0.6% of votes in the November 2024 election. It remains rarely used and tightly watched ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026 midterms. That low usage is why both prosecutors and critics treat this case as a precedent fight rather than a routine voting prosecution.

Why it matters

The case tests how Minnesota polices a rarely used voter-voucher system. Election officials say the rules exist to prevent abuse. Free-speech advocates say investigative stunts that never complete a ballot should not draw felony charges. The court record will settle which facts a jury hears; the political argument about journalism versus election security is already underway in the final days before the midterms.

Minnesota law allows limited vouching so eligible voters without standard ID can cast a ballot with help from a registered voter. Prosecutors say using someone else's name in that process is identity theft whether or not a ballot is finished. Defense arguments, previewed in sympathetic coverage, say stopping before the oath means no vote was cast and the stunt was journalism aimed at testing the system.

Court filings and the Nov. 16 appearances will show how prosecutors prove intent and how the defense frames the unfinished vouching steps. Until then, both campaigns around the midterms are already citing the case as evidence for their preferred story about election security.