James O'Keefe falsely identified himself as William Pomeranz in a Minnesota polling-place video that has drawn more than 7 million views. The video circulated after primary elections, and the conduct shown could carry felony exposure under Minnesota law.
The group calling itself the Citizen Justice League said it was testing Minnesota's 53-year-old voter voucher law. That law lets a registered voter vouch that someone lives where they say they do, but it does not allow anyone to impersonate a real voter.
William Pomeranz in Minnesota
CBS News Minnesota spoke to the real William Pomeranz after the video circulated. He said he learned about the misrepresentation from a student, then described the moment this way: "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. I found out on Friday."
Pomeranz said poll workers reported the incident afterwards. He also said, "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."
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon
David Schultz, a constitutional law professor at Hamline University, said, "It's illegal in the state of Minnesota to impersonate another voter, and this is apparently what O'Keefe did." Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said, "As I read the law, you can't impersonate another registered voter, and that's exactly what they appear to have filmed themselves doing."
Under Minnesota law, impersonating a voter at a polling place is a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. The activists did not go ahead with voting illegally, but the video still raised the possibility that the recorded conduct itself could be treated as a crime.
Citizen Justice League and
CBS News Minnesota said it was waiting to hear back from the Citizen Justice League. The report updated on August 18, 2026 at 8:04 AM CDT did not say whether Minnesota authorities had brought charges against James O'Keefe or anyone else, leaving the legal question tied to the video itself.
