Journalists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby are facing potential legal scrutiny from Minnesota officials after conducting an undercover operation at Minneapolis polling places that sought to test the state’s Election Day voter-registration and “vouching” rules.
The pair visited polling locations during Minnesota’s August 11 primary while wearing traditional Muslim clothing and using foreign accents. Their stated objective was to examine whether the state’s vouching system could be exploited to improperly register voters.
Minnesota allows an eligible registered voter to vouch for the residence of an individual who is registering to vote on Election Day. Under state law, a registered voter may vouch for up to eight people who reside within the same precinct.
During the undercover operation, O’Keefe and Higby appeared to be able to move through the registration process with the assistance of election workers. In one interaction, an election worker told O’Keefe, “You are the ID.”
The footage prompted an angry response from Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who accused the journalists of impersonating voters and potentially violating the law.
“During Minnesota’s Primary on August 11, 2026, members of a widely discredited Florida-based political group visited several polling places in Minneapolis impersonating Minnesota voters,” Simon said in a statement. He accused the group of using concealed cameras and attempting to undermine confidence in Minnesota’s election laws.
Simon also said the operation demonstrated that O’Keefe and Higby misunderstood how the state’s voting procedures operate and suggested their conduct could expose them to legal consequences. The KSTP report carrying Simon’s comments said law enforcement was reviewing the incident.
Higby subsequently accused Simon of threatening him and O’Keefe because of their investigation.
“Minnesota’s Secretary of State has threatened legal action against me while interviewing with KSTP,” Higby wrote on X. “He says law enforcement are ‘reviewing Higby’s action’ after I exposed MAJOR vulnerabilities in the state’s election system.”
O’Keefe likewise questioned why the secretary of state was focusing on the undercover journalists rather than the election workers they encountered.
“Um, why is Steve Simon @MNSecofState THREATENING @camhigby and me when the election worker said ‘You are the ID.’ Clearly some election officials told us we could vouch for eight people,” O’Keefe wrote.
The controversy centers on what exactly Minnesota requires from someone registering to vote through the vouching process.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s website says voters registering on Election Day must provide proof of residence, which can include confirmation from a registered voter who knows where the prospective voter lives. The site lists a registered voter serving as a “voucher” as one way to satisfy that requirement.
Following the undercover operation, Simon’s office emphasized that voters using the vouching system must also provide identifying information, including a Minnesota driver’s license or state identification number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The statutory language cited by Simon’s office, however, does not explicitly spell out that additional requirement in the portion governing voters whose residence is established through vouching. That discrepancy has become a central point of contention following O’Keefe and Higby’s investigation.
The undercover footage does not by itself establish that fraudulent ballots were actually cast. Instead, the operation was designed to test whether election workers would permit individuals claiming to be eligible voters to proceed through the registration process using Minnesota’s vouching rules.
The episode has consequently raised two separate questions: whether O’Keefe and Higby violated election or impersonation laws during their investigation, and whether the procedures they encountered demonstrate vulnerabilities or simply reflect election workers applying Minnesota’s existing registration requirements.
