Two charged with felony identity theft after posing as Minnesota voters

Hennepin County prosecutors filed felony charges against James O'Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26, on Wednesday. The two men face counts of unlawful voting and identity theft related to videos they recorded during the August 11 primary.

The charges follow a series of videos posted by a group calling itself the Citizen Justice League. The group stated its goal was to test Minnesota's voter voucher law, a statute that has been in place for 53 years. The law allows a registered voter to vouch for a newcomer's address to help that person secure a ballot. It does not permit individuals to impersonate existing registered voters.

According to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, O'Keefe and Higby visited multiple precincts in Hennepin County. They told election judges they were registered voters, providing the names of people who lived in those precincts. The office stated the men did this without the knowledge or permission of the actual voters. The prosecutors said the men posted the footage to social media to undermine confidence in the state's voting systems.

In the videos, the activists described as wearing Muslim costumes and using fake accents. O'Keefe identified himself to election officials as William Pomeranz. The real Pomeranz learned about the incident on a Friday, days after the primary. A student contacted him to show the online footage. Pomeranz said the revelation was a shock but noted that he still managed to vote that evening without issues. He credited the poll workers for reporting the incident after the fact.

Secretary of State Steve Simon addressed the charges in a news release. Simon said any attempt to disrupt or deceive election workers would not be tolerated. He noted in August that the group did not complete the act of voting illegally, but that the act of impersonation remained a violation of state law.

David Schultz, a constitutional law professor at Hamline University, also weighed in during the initial August coverage. Schultz stated that impersonating another voter is illegal in Minnesota. He, along with Pomeranz and Simon, argued at the time that the events shown in the video demonstrated the system was functioning as intended because the discrepancies were caught and reported.

The legal action is based on a Minnesota statute that bars intentionally misrepresenting a person's identity when applying for a ballot, depositing a ballot, or attempting to vote by machine. The attorney's office has not yet set a court date for O'Keefe and Higby.