They are a familiar sight at farmers’ markets and public squares across California every election season: workers gathering signatures needed to place voter initiatives on the ballot.
Nine people have been charged with felony election fraud after they went to a different part of town to collect signatures: Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles district attorney announced on Tuesday that the nine had been charged with paying homeless people off — with one dollar bills and stray cigarettes — in exchange for signing fake names on petitions for the initiatives or on voter registration forms. (People who sign petitions are required to be registered voters.)