A Marina del Rey woman, Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, 64, has been federally charged with paying individuals, including homeless people on Los Angeles's Skid Row, to register to vote and has agreed to plead guilty.
Armstrong, also known as "Anika," faces one felony count of paying another person to register to vote, a charge that carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. She is scheduled to make her initial appearance in United States District Court in Santa Ana and is expected to formally plead guilty in the coming weeks.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division emphasized the importance of election integrity, saying, "False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved. 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."
For approximately 20 years, Armstrong worked as a "petition circulator," collecting voter signatures for ballot initiatives, referendums, and recalls in California. She was paid by coordinators for each registered voter's signature. Starting no later than 2025, Armstrong began offering cash, typically $2 to $3, to individuals on Skid Row not only to sign petitions but also to complete voter registration forms. She sometimes provided her former address for homeless individuals who lacked one, which could lead to vote-by-mail ballots being sent to that address.
The FBI and investigators with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California investigated the matter, with Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Wheat and Nandor Kiss prosecuting the case.