Claims of Paid Voting on LA's Skid Row Surface Amid Mayoral Primary Mail Ballot Surge

Videos circulating on social media and reported by outlets including the New York Post show multiple Skid Row residents claiming they received small cash payments—$2 to $5—to fill out mail-in ballots or sign materials directing votes for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman in the June 2026 primary. Residents described frequent visits by outreach groups offering incentives for signatures and ballots, with one man stating he negotiated from $2 to $4 for a Bass vote and another confirming payments tied to Raman as well. These accounts align with a prior federal case where a Marina del Rey woman pleaded guilty to paying homeless individuals on Skid Row small sums or cigarettes to register to vote and sign petitions, using her former address for ballot delivery. The New York Post further documented thousands of voter registrations at Los Angeles shelters with limited or no beds, including one Venice facility linked to Raman's office that received significant public funding despite housing discrepancies. While Los Angeles County officials have referred the videos for review and federal prosecutors continue related probes, mainstream coverage from Forbes and others characterizes broader fraud allegations—particularly those tied to late mail ballots that propelled Raman into the runoff—as unsubstantiated, noting California's legal allowances for homeless voting and the slow count of postmarked ballots. The pattern echoes documented vulnerabilities in urban voter registration drives, where incentives for petitions have previously led to felony convictions without direct evidence altering primary outcomes in this cycle.