This article has been edited to include a response from the White House.
By Megan Barth
Executive Editor of The California Globe
In a second video drop of an ongoing series, independent investigative journalist James O’Keefe and the O’Keefe Media Group (OMG), working with citizen journalist Cam Higby and the Citizen Justice League, have released explosive hidden-camera footage documenting what appears to be a brazen, large-scale election fraud operation on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.
Titled “Cash for Ballots Part II,” the undercover videos show petition circulators (petitioners) paying homeless individuals as little as $2–$3 per form to forge the signatures and addresses of current registered voters on ballot measure petitions. One homeless individual admits to signing five to six petitions that day because “they give me money and I am broke.” The petitioners supplied printed lists of voters’ names and addresses, assigned fake identities to the signers, and gave explicit instructions on exactly what to write while monitoring the process to ensure the forged signatures would pass scrutiny and allow the petitioners to get paid.
“You only write what I tell you to write,” one petitioner is heard instructing an undercover journalist: “Your name’s Robert…” “If you mess up, I can’t get paid,” a different petitioner told a female undercover journalist after giving her the name “Joseph Albright” to forge his signature.
The conduct captured on camera appears to violate multiple California felony statutes, including Elections Code §18613 (signing another person’s name to a petition), Penal Code §470 (forgery), Elections Code §§18601–18602 (paying for petition signatures), and additional forgery provisions under the Penal Code.
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OMG and Higby’s team followed up by visiting addresses tied to the names being forged. One resident told investigators the named voter had not lived at the property for nearly a decade, yet her ballot and election mail continued to arrive.
“Doesn’t live here, uh I bought this house nearly 9 years ago. The only reason I know that name, is because we still get her mail,” the resident said, expressing concern that ballots were being fraudulently delivered.
(Screenshot from Part II)
In a statement released after publishing, the White House has weighed in on this latest
exposé:
This latest release builds directly on Part I of the “Cash for Ballots” investigation, which California Globe covered last week.
In that initial exposé, O’Keefe’s team documented at least 28 instances of petitioners exchanging cash, cigarettes, and marijuana for signatures and voter registrations — often using fake or outdated addresses — on the same Skid Row streets.
Part II of this series paints a disturbing picture of an election-fraud pyramid scheme that exploits some of California’s most vulnerable residents while undermining the state’s ballot initiatives, recall processes, and elections.
As we reported last week, Sheriff Chad Bianco, GOP candidate for governor, has seized 650,000 ballots from the Prop 50 special election after investigators found an approximate 50,000 ballot discrepancy between Riverside county’s certification and the Secretary of State’s certification.
California Globe has long documented systemic weaknesses in California’s election system, including bloated voter rolls, resistance to voter-ID requirements, and lax oversight of signature-gathering operations that have repeatedly raised red flags in high-stakes races.
In response to the initial “Cash for Ballots” investigation, federal and local officials have issued public statements vowing accountability.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli — the top federal prosecutor in the region overseeing Los Angeles — directly addressed the allegations, 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. Under 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c), it is a federal crime to provide false information on a voter registration form or to offer payment to complete a voter registration form.” Essayli added, “While longstanding DOJ policy prevents me from discussing specific investigations, I want to assure the public that this DOJ, under the leadership of @AGPamBondi, will aggressively pursue anyone and everyone involved in violating federal election laws.”
Via spokesman Brandon Richards, Governor Gavin Newsom’s office declared: “This alleged activity is a felony in California. Anyone caught engaging in this activity should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office confirmed it has received the footage and opened a preliminary review through its Public Integrity Division, stating: “Our office has received your complaint and will open a file for preliminary review.”
(Screenshot from Part II)
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who has visited Skid Row and highlighted the failures of one-party Democrat rule in the state, weighed in on the scandal exposed by O’Keefe’s team. In comments reacting to the recent footage, Hilton described the revelations as further evidence of deep systemic corruption and a “devastating indictment” of California’s governance failures that allow such exploitation of the homeless and erosion of election integrity.
In the video, Hilton tells O’Keefe:
“We have to freeze all the money going to any organizations doing this.”
“The entire voting system in California is called into question from this.”
“The prosecutions needs to happen…. The money flow needs to stop….because this is all funded. Where is the money coming from? This is a complex web of criminality and abuse.”
O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas and now leading OMG, described the operation as “mass in-person election fraud crimes caught on camera” and vowed that the Citizen Justice League would continue releasing additional footage of these alleged crimes every week.
This story is developing. California Globe will continue to follow the weekly releases and any official response from state and local authorities. For full context on Part I, see our previous reporting: O’Keefe Media Group Undercover Investigation Exposes Cash-for-Ballots Election
Fraud Scheme Targeting Homeless on LA’s Skid Row.
Follow California Globe for continuing coverage of election integrity in the Golden State.
California Globe has reached out to the California Secretary of State, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for updated comment on Part II and whether an immediate criminal investigation will be opened into the individuals and organizations captured in the footage. As of this writing, no additional statements have been received beyond the initial acknowledgments.
Megan Barth is the Executive Editor of The California Globe and former, founding editor of the Nevada Globe. Specializing in investigative reporting, her work has appeared in national and local news. The highlights of her career include interviewing President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and FBI Director Kash Patel. When she isn’t editing, writing, or talking, you can find her hiking and relaxing in Northern Nevada.
One Comment
Is this the same James O’Keefe that routinely deceptively edits his videos to create propaganda? As an “investigative journalist,” I would hope that you would stop promoting this propagandist. He was also forcibly removed from his position at Project Veritas due to his “financial malfeasance”and use and excessive amount of donor funds for his own “personal luxuries.”
He’s a fraud. Please stop promoting fraudsters and propagandists. This just reeks of confirmation bias from this author. As such, this is all suspsect.