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A woman from Marina Del Ray has admitted to illegally paying homeless people on Skid Row to register to vote in what prosecutors say is a 20-year scheme tied to illegal petition signature collection.
On several occasions, she even let homeless people use her own address to register, meaning mail-in ballots could be sent to her home, a plea agreement obtained by The California Post states.
Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, 64, also known as “Anika,” took a plea deal for one felony count of paying another person to register to vote in a federal election, prosecutors announced Monday.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon in a statement. “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.”
Prosecutors allege Armstrong targeted Skid Row because of its dense homeless population and regularly offered cash payments — typically between $2 and $3 — to persuade people to sign petitions.
The case centers in part on an incident that allegedly occurred on Jan. 30, 2026, when Armstrong knowingly paid another person for the purpose of getting them to register to vote in federal elections. The payment ranged from money or cigarettes, and phone cords, according to the plea agreement reviewed by the California Post.
Armstrong worked for roughly two decades as a paid petition circulator, collecting signatures for California ballot initiatives, recalls and referendums across the Los Angeles area, according to the Department of Justice.
Prior to 2025, authorities say Anika expanded the operation by also paying individuals to complete voter registration forms.
A video shot by conservative media figure James O’Keefe and reposted by an account called “Real America’s Voice” shows a woman handing cash to a homeless person.
“Now because you haven’t registered, I need to register you so I can get paid too. I’m paying you guys, I need to get paid,” the woman, who appears to be Anika, says in the video.
The video alleges the woman was caught on camera at least 28 times.
California election law allows homeless people to legally vote if they meet standard requirements, including citizenship, residency and age.
Homeless voters may register using a shelter, park, cross streets or another location where they regularly stay, even if they do not have a traditional residential address, according to the California Secretary of State.
“On several occasions, Armstrong provided a homeless individual with her own former address in Los Angeles so they had something to write on the registration form,” according to the press release.
Because California automatically mails ballots to registered voters, prosecutors said the registrations created the possibility that ballots could be sent to Armstrong’s address instead of to the homeless people who registered to vote.
Armstrong is set to appear Monday morning in United States District Court in Santa Ana for her initial hearing and is expected to formally plead guilty in the weeks ahead.
The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The primary election is scheduled for June 2, with mail-in ballot voting already underway, and the general election set for November.
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