00:00These two influencers set out to prove
00:02that Minnesota's elections are easy to defraud.
00:05Now, they're the ones facing felony charges.
00:07And the rule they went after is in play at the polls today.
00:11This is vouching.
00:12In Minnesota, if you register at the polls
00:13without proof of address, a registered voter
00:16from your precinct can swear under penalty of perjury
00:18that you live there.
00:19Fewer than one in 100 Minnesota voters used it in 2024.
00:24Minnesota's elections chief says he can't recall
00:26a single case of vouching fraud on his watch.
00:29Cut to the August primary
00:30when Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe
00:33and conservative influencer Cam Higby
00:35decided to test the rule themselves.
00:37Their plan?
00:38Give poll workers real registered voters' names
00:41and then ask to vouch for people who weren't registered.
00:44They showed up in costumes resembling Muslim clothing
00:46and used fake accents with Higby's face covered.
00:49Prosecutors say some of those names belong to dead voters
00:52and since registered Minnesota voters
00:54don't need IDs to check in,
00:56a poll worker tells Higby on camera,
00:57you are in the system and you can vote today.
01:00They then walked out without signing an oath
01:02or casting a ballot.
01:03Poll workers reported them.
01:05Now each man faces two felonies,
01:07identity theft and unlawful voting for misrepresenting his identity
01:10while applying for a ballot.
01:11Prosecutor Mary Moriarty says if you identify as a journalist,
01:14there is no such thing as undercover investigation in the polling place.
01:18You have to identify yourself as a journalist in the polling place,
01:21which they did not do.
01:22O'Keefe calls it an attempt to criminalize investigative journalism.
01:26Anyone vouched for at the polls today gets verified after their vote is already counted.
01:31So do you think vouching is a loophole or a safeguard?
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