A new video showing conservative provocateur James O’Keefe and people from his team seemingly posing as Muslim Minnesotans and asking election volunteers questions about how the vouching system works is making the rounds on social media.
The 11-minute video shows the group, with O’Keefe dressed in a thobe and kufi, going into polling places in Minneapolis.
O’Keefe, using an accent, asks workers at polling places if he can vouch for other voters. The election workers explain the law around vouching as one of his team members films and then his team walks out.
Keefe is known for making undercover videos, mostly famously for a video of volunteers with ACORN. His videos have led to criminal charges against him in the past and he was caught by Washington Post reporters in 2017 for attempting to sell them on a false story.
In a statement, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said the group used concealed cameras and released “heavily edited video of their encounters.”
“Poll workers immediately reported these visits to local election officials and law enforcement is reviewing the situation,” Simon said. “The misconduct by this group is outrageous and totally unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places.”
Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s office, said in a statement, "Our office is aware of this incident and is working with the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Police, and Hennepin County Elections to gather information."
The state has several ways for unregistered voters to register on Election Day, including vouching.
To vouch for someone, a voter who is already registered in the precinct goes with an unregistered voter to the voting precinct and signs an oath confirming the unregistered voter’s address. Under state law, a registered voter can vouch for up to eight people. In the cases of residential living facilities, like assisted living or long-term care, a staff member with the facility – with proof of employment at the facility – can vouch for anyone who lives in that facility.
O’Keefe and his team do not vote or attempt to register in the video. In a press release from O’Keefe’s group, which calls itself the “Justice League,” the people in the video “did not cast ballots. The investigation was intended to test the limits of Minnesota’s vouching law and document how election workers apply it on Election Day.”
Under state law, falsely signing an oath is considered perjury, a felony which carries up to a five-year sentence.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, in the 2024 election less than 0.6 percent of votes were cast using the vouching process. Of those, “around 71 percent were already registered to vote but needed to update their name or address on their voter record,” the office said.
The office said anyone who registered or updated their registration on Election Day, including people who are vouched for, are recorded by local election officials. Those names are verified in a state database after each election. The office said, “If a discrepancy is found during this process it is referred to local law enforcement for investigation and possible prosecution.”
