James O'Keefe’s Undercover Voter-Impersonation Video Draws Legal and Community Backlash

In mid-August, far-right activist James O’Keefe released a hidden-camera video that showed him posing as a registered voter in a Minnesota primary. Wearing what he described as “traditional Muslim attire” and using a foreign accent, O’Keefe approached a poll worker and claimed to be “William Pomerantz,” a professor at the University of Minnesota. The video was recorded with members of the Citizen Justice League and posted online the same week it was made.

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Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said the stunt revealed a misunderstanding of long-standing state election laws and placed the participants in legal jeopardy. University of Minnesota professor William Pomerantz, whose identity was used in the video, told local media that he learned of the misrepresentation from a student, praised the poll workers for reporting the incident, and said the voting process still functioned for him that evening.

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Simon explained that the “vouching” process—where an eligible voter signs an affidavit to confirm another’s residency—was used for less than 0.6 % of votes in the 2024 general election. About 71 % of those voters were already registered but needed to update name or address information, a practice common in senior-living facilities. Vouchers must sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury confirming personal knowledge of the voter’s precinct residence.

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Minnesota condemned the video, calling for a criminal investigation and labeling the impersonation and reliance on anti-Muslim stereotypes as unacceptable.

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• “Falsely impersonating a real voter, and using anti-Muslim stereotypes to do it, is not an acceptable substitute for legitimate civic oversight,” — Jaylani Hussein, the CAIR-Minnesota executive director

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• “I actually had a student contact me that had showed me what was online about my identity being misrepresented. So, that was pretty much a shock ... Kudos to the poll workers. They reported it afterwards. and frankly, I got to vote that evening without a problem. So, you know, the voting process, in my mind, worked,” — William Pomerantz

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• “Their apparent goal was to cast doubt on one or more Minnesota election laws that have been in force for over fifty years,” — State Steve Simon

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• “The misconduct by this group is outrageous and totally unacceptable,” — State Steve Simon

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• “In the 2024 general election, less than 0.6% of votes cast used this process,” — State Steve Simon

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