Video makers in US charged with unlawful voting
AP, MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota
Self-described undercover journalists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby were charged on Wednesday with unlawful voting and identity theft after a Minnesota prosecutor said they gave false names to poll workers during the a primary election in the US state.
O’Keefe and Higby recorded the exchanges for a video to expose what they say are vulnerabilities in the state’s voting laws.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the felony charges at a news conference.
Members of the public and election workers interact at a polling station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Oct. 16.
Photo: AFP
She said O’Keefe, 42, of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Higby, 26, of Covington, Washington, wore costumes and used the names of registered state voters while starting the “vouching” process in the Aug. 11 primary.
The process provides a way for voters who lack proof of their address to register and vote in their new precinct on the same day after a voter already registered in that precinct “vouches” for them.
Minnesota allows registered voters to “vouch” for another voter in the same precinct by signing an oath attesting to the second person’s identity.
O’Keefe, who founded O’Keefe Media Group, said in a video and a written statement that he and Higby had been acting as investigative journalists and that they never intended to complete the voucher process.
He said they were careful to say “the name is” rather than “my name is” when giving names to poll workers.
In their video that was posted to YouTube on Aug. 13, O’Keefe, Higby and others dressed in costumes similar to attire worn by some Muslims and used fake accents while asking about the vouching process at multiple Minneapolis voting sites.
Higby’s face was covered and O’Keefe referred to him as his wife.
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