Skid Row residents were PAID to vote in LA mayor's race: report

Several residents of Los Angeles’ Skid Row have claimed they were paid to vote during the city’s mayoral election, with many saying those soliciting their vote told them to vote for incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.

The TikTok account @LANeedsSpencerPratt posted multiple videos featuring interviews with individuals in the Skid Row area near 7th Street and Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles. In the videos, several residents alleged they received money in exchange for casting ballots.

One man, identified as Kevin Shepherd, claimed he was paid $4 to vote for Bass. When asked whether he also would have been paid to vote for candidate Nithya Raman, Shepherd responded, “Yes.”

“They gave you an optional choice,” Shepherd explained, saying he was originally offered $2 but negotiated up to $4. He said he filled out a mail-in ballot for Bass and deposited it at a ballot box. 

Another resident, Rene Johnson, said she got $5 to vote for bass. “I was just trying to make five bucks, you know? But I didn’t do the fraud.”

An unidentified woman also admitted to receiving $2 to vote for Bass. “Yeah, they come out here all the time," she said, when asked about the frequency of ballot harvesters appearing on Skid Row.

According to the New York Post, the creator of the TikTok account explained that he had spent two hours speaking with residents who said voter outreach was common on Skid Row before election day. Several residents reportedly said groups regularly visit the area seeking signatures on petitions, with some admitting they did not fully understand what they were signing.

The allegations come after a separate voter fraud-related case involving a Skid Row signature collector. In May, federal prosecutors announced that California resident Brenda Lee Born Armstrong pleaded guilty to paying homeless individuals to register to vote.

According to the Department of Justice, Armstrong worked as a paid petition circulator, where she was paid to collect voter signatures on official petitions. In her plea agreement, she admitted to soliciting signatures in Skid Row and would pay people to register to vote. She would typically pay between $2 and $3.