Cali Woman Admits Paying Homeless People To Register To Vote, Sign Petitions

A California woman has pleaded guilty after federal officials said she bribed homeless individuals in Los Angeles’ Skid Row area to register to vote and sign political petitions.

Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, 64, admitted in a plea agreement that she worked as a paid petition circulator and targeted homeless people while collecting signatures in Los Angeles.

According to court documents cited by The Washington Times, Armstrong carried voter registration forms with her and paid individuals between $2 and $3 after they signed petitions she was circulating and registered to vote.

Federal prosecutors said Armstrong instructed people without permanent residences to list one of her former addresses on voter registration forms. Because California conducts most of its elections by mail, many ballots were later sent to that address.

Federal investigators said Armstrong agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of bribing an individual to register to vote.

“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections — even more so when payoffs are involved,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement quoted by The Washington Times.

Authorities said Armstrong had worked as a signature gatherer for roughly two decades.

Investigators also said petition coordinators only paid circulators for valid voter registrations, meaning the individuals had to be registered voters in California for the signatures to count.

Federal prosecutors did not disclose how many voter registrations or petition signatures were involved in the case.

The case comes as November’s midterm elections are just months away and election integrity remains a central issue for conservatives who have long warned that weak safeguards, mass mail voting, and loose registration practices can damage public confidence in the system.

RNC Chairman Says Republicans Could Outspend Democrats In Midterm Cycle

Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said Republicans may be positioned to outspend Democrats this election cycle, marking a major reversal from past campaigns in which Democrats often enjoyed the financial advantage.

Speaking on Breitbart, Gruters said Republicans are entering the midterm cycle with stronger fundraising, deeper coordination, and a united conservative infrastructure behind President Donald Trump’s political movement.

Host Mike Slater asked Gruters to put into context reports that Democrats spent $70 million in Virginia’s recent redistricting fight.

“How much money is that for the parties?” Slater asked.

Gruters responded by pointing to what he described as a weak financial position for Democrats.

“The DNC has minus 4 million [dollars], and it wasn’t the DNC that plowed $70 million: It was the collective,” Gruters said.

“So, if you look at the collective on the right, we may have $800 million,” he continued.

“The collective on the left may have $350 million, and when you have the court, there’s gonna be a court case that is ruled on in the next week or two, coordinated campaign limits, which will magnify that, which will allow full coordination and allow the parties to spend at the candidate rate, which is massive for us,” he said.

Gruters said the shift could represent a historic break from previous election cycles, when Democrats regularly outraised or outspent Republicans through major donors and powerful outside groups.

“When you have that financial advantage, people, you know, people don’t know that the Democrats routinely spend more than us on election cycles, because they have more massive donors and that will write massive checks,” he said.

“But this time, this cycle [we] will either spend a parity or will outspend them, and that’s never happened before,” he added.

According to Gruters, the RNC itself is also in a stronger position than the Democratic National Committee. He said the RNC currently has “about $125 million” on hand, while describing the DNC as having negative cash reserves.

Gruters also cited allied Republican groups as part of a larger coordinated effort to protect GOP majorities.

“Our Republican National Senatorial Committee, let’s say, has $80 million. House committee has $80 million,” he said.

“Then you have conservative groups out there like MAGA Inc. … you got to think about, we are completely united in our efforts to hold the majority,” he added.

Gruters emphasized that the Republican operation is working closely with President Trump’s political team.

“We coordinate everything with the President, James Blair, Susie Wiles, that team, and we are in unison moving forward to make sure that we’re doing exactly what we need to do to win,” he said.

With both parties preparing for a fiercely contested midterm cycle, Republicans are hoping that superior coordination, stronger fundraising, and a sharper message on inflation, crime, immigration, and election integrity will help them hold their advantage.