The Los Angeles Times reported on an “election fraud scheme” and criminal charges have been filed against nine people. They are believed to have bribed homeless people in L.A. with cigarettes and cash in exchange for signatures on ballot initiatives and voter registration forms.
These nine alone came up with hundreds of fake and/or forged signatures in the 2016 election and the year’s midterms. Since they have been doing it for years, it’s probably thousands, not hundreds.
They even registered non-existent people to vote.
They went to L.A.’s skid row and gave destitute and homeless individual’s $1 or $2, even $6 for the signatures, according to the LA Times.
DON’T BELIEVE YOUR LYIN’ EYES
State officials say it’s not really a voter fraud problem.
“It’s not really voter fraud, in terms of illegal voting and manipulation,” Dean Logan, the head of Los Angeles County elections, said in September, according to the Times. “But I am certainly concerned about any activity that causes voters to lose faith in the process.”
If so, why are they charged with voter fraud?
The individuals were charged with a slew of crimes – including circulating a petition with fake names, voter fraud and registering a fictitious person – with the most egregious violators facing over six years in prison.
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We hate to break the news, but it is really, really voter fraud.
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Petitions to qualify measures for the state ballot must be signed by registered voters, according to the California secretary of state’s office — explaining why the homeless would be asked to forge other people’s names.
“It’s been going on for years,” Officer Deon Joseph told KABC. “They say, ‘Hey, you want to make a quick buck?’ ”
“We didn’t charge any homeless people,” district attorney spokesperson Shiara Davila-Morales said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The suspects have been identified as Kirkland Kauzava Washington, 38, Harold Bennett, 53, Louis Thomas Wise, 36. Richard Howard, 62, Rose Makeda Sweeney, 42, Christopher Joseph Williams, 59, Jakara Fati Mardis, 35, Norman Hall, 61, and Nickey Demelvin Huntley, 44.
Several walked into court in orange jumpsuits, handcuffed, and laughing.
Using cash and cigarettes as lures, the defendants approached homeless people on skid row and asked them to forge signatures on state ballot measure petitions and voter registration forms, the district attorney’s office said. https://t.co/xZyqqeWXkF
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 21, 2018
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