Undercover Video Sparks Legal Concerns in Minnesota

An undercover video might lead to legal consequences for several activists. These individuals posed as Minnesota voters during a primary election. They claimed to test Minnesota’s long-standing voter voucher law.

The video, now viewed over 7 million times, raises questions about their actions. The group, previously known as Project Veritas, now under the name Citizen Justice League, appears in the video wearing what they called Muslim costumes. They used fake accents, claiming to be Minnesota voters vouching for others.

Minnesota’s voucher law allows a registered voter to confirm someone’s residency to vote. However, it prohibits impersonating actual voters. In the video, a man falsely identified himself to election officials as William Pomeranz. CBS News Minnesota spoke with the real Pomeranz, who received unusual messages on Election Day.

“I actually had a student contact me, showing me online content misrepresenting my identity. It was quite a shock. I found out on Friday,” Pomeranz stated.

The group’s members did not advance to vote illegally. Pomeranz remarked, “Kudos to the poll workers. They reported it afterward, and I voted that evening without any issue. For me, the voting process worked.”

The man in the video, who falsely claimed to be Pomeranz, has real legal concerns. His actual name is James O’Keefe. “In Minnesota, it is illegal to impersonate another voter, and it seems this is what O’Keefe did,” remarked David Schultz, a Hamline University constitutional law professor.

Both Schultz and Pomeranz, alongside Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, agree that the video demonstrated the system’s effectiveness. “As the law reads, you cannot impersonate another registered voter, which is what they apparently filmed,” Simon stated.

Impersonating a Minnesota voter at the polls is a felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine of $20,000.

Project Veritas, known for its secretive recordings targeting media, unions, and Democratic-aligned groups, often edits videos in contested ways. James O’Keefe, Project Veritas’s founder, left the organization’s leadership in 2023 following financial misconduct allegations.

CBS News Minnesota has contacted both Project Veritas and the Citizen Justice League and is awaiting responses.

Topics: Minnesota, Voting, Election