DOJ investigating Michigan voter fraud
Harmeet Dhillon, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, discusses the DOJ’s investigation into voter fraud in Michigan’s Wayne County, citing instances of fraudulent voting and non-compliance with the Help America Vote Act.
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The Department of Justice charged a California woman with paying people — including homeless individuals on Los Angeles’ Skid Row — to register to vote while she worked as a paid ballot-petition signature collector, according to federal prosecutors.
“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a press release Monday.
“This Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all U.S. elections are fair and free from illegal meddling – so that all Americans can accept the results with confidence,” Dhillon added.
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The DOJ charged a California woman with paying people, including homeless individuals on Skid Row, to register to vote. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Marina del Rey resident “Anika” Brenda Lee Armstrong, 64, solicited signatures for official ballot initiatives, including in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles, often paying people between $2 and $3, according to DOJ.
She was charged with one felony count of paying another person to register to vote and agreed to plead guilty, according to the DOJ. Armstrong made her initial court appearance Monday.
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Armstrong was charged with a felony count of paying another person to register to vote in which she could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Armstrong worked as a “petition circulator” for approximately 20 years, and would receive payment for each registered voter’s signature, according to her plea agreement.
The amount she was paid varied depending on the specific ballot initiative. Digital reached out to the DOJ to clarify which initiatives and groups Armstrong was soliciting for and how much she was paid.
Many members of Skid Row’s homeless population were not registered to vote, so prosecutors said Armstrong brought voter registration forms with her and began offering payment to people to complete them.
Prosecutors said Armstrong sometimes provided homeless individuals with her former Los Angeles address to list on voter registration forms, which registered them to vote in both California and federal elections.
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“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
California automatically sends vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter, with prosecutors saying ballots in some individuals’ names could potentially have been sent to Armstrong’s former residence, where those individuals did not live or collect mail.
Armstrong was charged with a felony count of paring another person to register to vote in which she could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
Investigative reporter James O’Keefe took a victory lap over the indictment, citing O’Keefe Media Group first captured footage of the alleged scheme on Skid Row.
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Homeless people are eligible to register to vote so long as they have a location where mail can be received and “be properly assigned to a voting precinct,” according to the California Secretary of State.
Digital reached out to the offices of the California governor and state attorney general for additional comment on the matter on Monday.
