O’Keefe Media Group Undercover Investigation Exposes Cash-for-Ballots Election Fraud Scheme Targeting Homeless on LA’s Skid Row

Independent investigative journalist James O’Keefe and his team at O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) have released explosive undercover footage documenting what appears to be widespread voter registration and petition fraud on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, where homeless individuals were allegedly bribed with cash, cigarettes, and marijuana in exchange for signing voter registration forms and ballot petitions — often using fake addresses.  

The investigation, titled “CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS FRAUD CASH FOR BALLOTS PART I,” captured at least 28 instances of petitioners exchanging payments for signatures in just days of filming. Petition circulators openly admitted on hidden camera that they are paid $7 to $10 per signature, with some boasting daily earnings exceeding $1,000. Many of the homeless signers appeared unaware of the petitions’ content or purpose.  

WATCH:

“You can just put Pinocchio Lane,” one circulator recommended as a home address to an undercover journalist posing as homeless. Another instructed, “Oh, you can just fake an address.”  

Footage shows employees at the taxpayer-funded Weingart Center — which has received hundreds of millions in public grants — directing homeless individuals across the street to the petitioners and coaching them on plausible deniability. 

Intake coordinator Jason Warren reportedly said: “Most time they be right across the street, under that tree… Monday through Friday.” Another Weingart staffer advised: “See they say ignorance is no excuse for the law. But a lot of times, I have to say ‘I didn’t know, I had no idea.’”

The petitions being circulated by workers for Populus Inc. (a firm tied to funders including Uber, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association) included proposals to impose a 5% tax on billionaires for healthcare and to overturn Los Angeles’ $30 minimum wage ordinance for hotel and airline workers ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics. One circulator was recorded telling a signer: “We have one that taxes billionaires 5%. One-time tax. 5% and that’s gonna go towards healthcare.”  

Paying for signatures or voter registration is a clear violation of both California Elections Code §18603 and federal law under 52 U.S.C. §10307(c), which prohibits offering anything of value to induce voter registration or petition signatures — a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and fines. Yet when confronted during the OMG investigation, nearby LAPD officers reportedly dismissed the activity as “a civil lawsuit type thing.” 

According to OMG, this is not the first time such activity has surfaced on Skid Row. In 2016, nine individuals were arrested for exchanging cash and cigarettes for signatures; in 2019, they faced 14 counts under the exact same California statute.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California responded directly to the revelations, stating: “Nothing is more important than the integrity of our elections. The conduct and allegations captured on video undermine confidence in our election system here in California.” 

Nothing is more important than the integrity of our elections. The conduct and allegations captured on video undermine confidence in our election system here in California.

Under 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c), it is a federal crime to provide false information on a voter registration… https://t.co/aXEyk1r903

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) March 17, 2026

Essayli assured the public that under Attorney General Pam Bondi, the DOJ “will aggressively pursue anyone and everyone involved in violating federal election laws.” Part II of the OMG investigation is forthcoming.  

The California Globe has long documented systemic vulnerabilities in California’s election system that enable such fraud. As we reported in 2020, two Los Angeles County men were arrested and charged with 41 counts — including conspiracy to commit voter fraud — after allegedly submitting over 8,000 fake voter registration applications on behalf of homeless individuals to boost one suspect’s mayoral bid in Hawthorne.  

California’s voter rolls have also been plagued by massive discrepancies, with the state showing 1.8 million more registered voters than eligible citizens according to a bombshell analysis the Globe covered in 2021.  

These issues underscore why grassroots efforts are crucial for election integrity reforms — such as the Voter ID initiative that surpassed one million signatures and will appear on the 2026 ballot.

The OMG footage provides irrefutable evidence of the very fraud California officials have repeatedly downplayed. With federal prosecutors now on notice, the question remains: Will this lead to actual arrests and accountability, or will Skid Row’s cash-for-ballots operation continue unchecked?  

The full undercover video and supporting documentation are available via O’Keefe Media Group. 

California Globe will continue to monitor developments and the forthcoming series of reports from this OMG investigation.