Minnesota elections chief condemns hidden-camera polling place videos

Sofia Barnett, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Aug 16, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has condemned a Florida-based political group after its members secretly recorded interactions with poll workers at several Minneapolis polling places during Tuesday’s primary election.

Poll workers immediately reported the encounters to local election officials, according to Simon. Law enforcement is reviewing the incidents.

The videos were posted by conservative activist James O’Keefe, who said the videos showed poll workers explaining Minnesota’s voter-vouching law to people posing as unregistered voters without identification. In a post on X, O’Keefe claimed the encounters showed the “sheer lunacy” of Minnesota’s election laws.

Minnesota law allows an eligible voter to register on Election Day through several methods, including having a registered voter from the same precinct sign an oath to confirm their address. A registered voter can vouch for up to eight people.

Simon characterized the videos as heavily edited and said the group appeared to be trying to “cast doubt” on election laws that have been in place for more than 50 years.

Simon accused members of O’Keefe’s group of misrepresenting themselves during the encounters. He said they entered polling places dressed in what they described as “Muslim” clothing, imitated foreign accents and falsely claimed to be Minnesota voters.

“The misconduct by this group is outrageous and totally unacceptable,” Simon said in a statement Friday. “We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places.”

O’Keefe is the leader of the Citizen Justice League, which describes itself as “a network of citizen journalists exposing corruption and demanding accountability for America.”

On Sunday, O’Keefe posted on X that Simon was threatening him and his group “for exposing the truth on [Minnesota’s] broken vouching system.” O’Keefe hinted that more video would be released Monday.