Minnesota authorities opened an investigation into conservative influencer Cam Higby after he visited polling places while pretending to be a niqab-wearing Muslim woman in order to expose voter fraud.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon acknowledged that law enforcement began reviewing the undercover stunt involving Mr. Higby and conservative media figure James O’Keefe after their video went viral following last week’s primary elections.
“Dressed in what they called ’Muslim’ costumes and imitating foreign accents, they falsely claimed to be registered Minnesota voters. The group used concealed cameras to record their interactions with poll workers, releasing a heavily edited video of their encounters,” said Mr. Simon, a Democrat.
“Their apparent goal was to cast doubt on one or more Minnesota election laws that have been in force for over 50 years. Instead, they revealed their ignorance of how those laws actually work — while putting themselves in legal jeopardy,” he said.
The video captured Mr. Higby and Mr. O’Keefe going to three polling places in Minneapolis to try to expose weaknesses in the state’s vouching law, which allows registered voters to attest that a potential voter is at the correct precinct.
The law has traditionally been used by people who recently moved and have not updated their address on their voter registration.
Mr. Higby and his colleague wore niqabs — long opaque garments that cover the entire body and face — when visiting the first voting center, according to the video footage.
The poll workers said Mr. Higby could vote without ID because he gave them the name of a registered voter, but the colleague he was vouching for would need to show ID to register that day.
State law requires the person vouching on behalf of the potential voter to sign an affidavit verifying the vouchee’s residence under penalty of perjury.
Mr. Higby made up an excuse to leave that polling place moments later.
Mr. Higby and his colleague documented their next visit to a separate location, where an election officer said neither of the supposed voters needed to show ID. Again, Mr. Higby gave the poll workers the name of a person who was registered to vote in the area.
Mr. Higby said he wanted to vouch for eight people, the maximum allowed by Minnesota law. An election officer said Mr. Higby and the eight vouchees would need to sign affidavits in order to vote and their validity would be checked, at which point he left.
The final location recorded Mr. O’Keefe, who was portraying himself as a Muslim man, and Mr. Higby speaking with poll workers at a third location.
Mr. O’Keefe spoke with the election officials, gave them the name of a registered voter in the precinct and discussed the potential for vouching for other voters. The poll workers said Mr. O’Keefe could vouch for them, and he told them he was leaving to go get them.
Mr. Simon, the secretary of state, said poll workers immediately reported the interactions after Mr. Higby and Mr. O’Keefe left.
“The misconduct by this group is outrageous and totally unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places,” Mr. Simon said. “Voters deserve better, as do the tens of thousands of our neighbors and friends who serve as poll workers.”
Mr. Higby fired back at Mr. Simon during a livestream over the weekend by calling the investigation a “veiled threat.”
The conservative influencer also said he never actually voted or obtained a ballot for the primary.
“I just showed up and tested the system. But they were going to allow me to vote just with first [name], last [name] and address,” he said.
“And actually, at one of the polling locations where they told me that I didn’t need ID for myself or the eight other people that I was vouching for, they didn’t even ask my address,” he said. “All they asked for was first and last and they couldn’t see my face. They had physically no way of verifying that I was or was not that person.”
