Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged James O'Keefe and Cam Higby with felony unlawful voting and identity theft.

Wednesday's complaints are charges. They are not a finding that either man cast a ballot. MPR News reported Mary Moriarty said it was pretty clear they did not intend to vote, and that using someone else's name while applying for a ballot is what she charged. Nov. 16 and an unstated court date are not the same calendar.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said Wednesday that it charged James Edward O'Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26, with felony unlawful voting and identity theft for what they did during Minnesota's primary election on Aug. 11. NBC News and MPR News dated that Wednesday as Oct. 28, 2026. The county office said both men filmed themselves, posted the videos, and visited multiple precincts in Hennepin County, where they gave election judges the names of registered voters in those precincts without those voters' knowledge or permission. It said they did not sign the oath, and that they intentionally misrepresented their identities in applying for ballots. It listed case 27-CR-26-28438 for O'Keefe and case 27-CR-26-28437 for Higby. County Attorney Mary Moriarty said, "Elections are the bedrock of democracy and their protection is one of our highest priorities. Individuals engaging in unlawful conduct related to our elections will be held accountable." Secretary of State Steve Simon said in the same release, "Polling places are the heart of our democracy and should be places of safety and peace," and that "Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated." A charge and a release announcing it are not a finding that a ballot was cast.

NBC News, in a story published at 12:48 p.m. EDT on Oct. 28 by Rebecca Shabad, reported Moriarty announced the charges at a news conference and said both men stopped short of signing the oath people sign before receiving a ballot. It reported she said Minnesota law states that no one shall intentionally misrepresent an identity in applying for a ballot. It reported they were using the state's vouching process, which lets a registered voter who lives in the precinct vouch for up to eight voters, and lets staff at a residential facility vouch for residents. MPR News, in a story by Jon Collins published at 11:04 a.m. and updated at 3 p.m., reported the same cap of eight. It reported a registered voter goes with an unregistered voter and signs an oath confirming the address. NBC News reported the two disguised themselves, recorded the visits with hidden cameras, and posted the videos in August. MPR News reported videos from O'Keefe's operation show them wearing burkas outside precincts, and it quoted Higby in one video saying he and O'Keefe were going to polling stations to see if workers would let them vote without IDs and vouch for people who were not registered. The BBC reported the video shows them in Islamic attire, using fake accents, with poll workers. Burkas, Islamic attire, and fake accents are three descriptions of what those outlets say the recordings show. MPR News used the name Cameron Higby when it described the secretary of state's alert. The county release uses Cam Higby.

MPR News reported Moriarty said, "I think it's pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That's not the question here." It reported she said neither man signed the oath to vouch for the other would-be voter, which she said would have been felony perjury, and that a person cannot give somebody else's name and misrepresent himself while going through the process. It reported she also said, "It is not against the law to be performative. It is not against the law to be offensive," and that a person cannot go into a polling place, misidentify himself, use someone's identity, and say that to election judges while applying for a ballot. It reported the names they used included some residents who were dead and at least one person who voted. NBC News reported police interviewed the registered voters whose names were used, that Moriarty said they also used names of deceased voters, and that when she was asked where the names came from she said, "We don't know that." NBC News reported she said they are not in jail and will be issued summonses to appear in Minnesota. It reported neither man had immediately responded to the network. MPR News reported it had not heard back either. A summons is a court date. It is not a plea.

The BBC reported Higby, whom it called a 26-year-old political commentator, said the recording was meant to expose vulnerabilities in Minnesota's voting system. It reported he said, "I never voted, I never signed an affidavit, and I never violated a law," and, "For showing how Minnesota abuses votes, they seek to take mine away from me permanently." Those sentences are what he told the BBC. They are not a dismissal. The BBC reported the county office confirmed neither man signed the required oath to confirm an address, and that prosecutors said both intentionally misrepresented their identities when applying for ballots. MPR News reported that in an August press release, O'Keefe's group, which calls itself the Justice League, said the people in the video did not cast ballots and that the project was meant to test how election workers apply the vouching law. A group's description of its own video is not the charge. MPR News reported an initial court appearance is set for Nov. 16. The BBC reported it was not immediately clear when O'Keefe and Higby are due in court, and that the BBC had contacted O'Keefe for comment. Nov. 16 and an unstated date are not the same schedule.

NBC News reported Moriarty said Simon's office alerted her to the conduct. It reported Simon said, after the August videos, that their apparent goal was to cast doubt on election laws that have been in force for more than fifty years, and that they showed they did not know how those laws work. It reported he called the conduct outrageous and said the state has zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at polling places. MPR News reported Simon later said the poll workers did what they were supposed to do. It reported state court records show the specific election-interference charges filed here have been used only once since 2021. NBC News reported O'Keefe was removed as head of Project Veritas in 2023, and that in 2024 he and Project Veritas settled a lawsuit a Pennsylvania postmaster brought after the group promoted a postal worker's false claims of voter fraud from the 2020 election. The BBC reported that after he was ousted from Project Veritas he founded O'Keefe Media Group. A settlement in another state is not a fact about the Aug. 11 videos. Wednesday's charges are the accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.