As a state investigation into the matter continues, more individuals have been caught on film paying people $5 to forge signatures on petitions for various counter-measures to the Billionaire Tax initiative, and they’re now wearing ski masks and taking swings at reporters.
As SFist reported last month, local content creator JJ Smith alerted state officials to alleged fraudulent activity involving individuals paying people on Sixth Street in SF's South of Market neighborhood to sign petitions using other people’s voter registration information. Smith said the signature-collectors didn't explain to people what petitions they were signing, which were reportedly for pro-billionaire measures countering the Billionaire Tax initiative ahead of the 2026 California elections.
The signature-collectors have now been reported in SF’s Tenderloin District, and similar activity was reportedly spotted in Los Angeles's "Skid Row."
As the New York Times’s Heather Knight reports, three men were recently spotted at a folding table on Leavenworth Street wearing ski masks and handing out pizza along with $5 in exchange for signatures in someone else’s name.
The Times spoke to a man named Pablo Gonzalez who said he signed a petition in exchange for cash using a name he was assigned by the signature-collector rather than his own. He also confirmed he was unaware of the purpose of the petition.
“I was just there for the five bucks,” he said.
The Times points out that while it’s legal for campaigns to pay signature-collectors to talk voters into signing their petitions, it’s illegal to pay people to sign them, as similar activity has resulted in convictions during past elections.
District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who represents the Tenderloin, told the Times he received several calls from constituents about the signature-collectors, but he didn’t say how his office was handling the matter.
Meanwhile, KGO’s Dan Noyes dodged punches from a man he encountered paying for signatures on petitions that the reporter said were clearly for the “Building a Better California” campaign. Noyes said he watched for himself as the man and his female companion paid homeless people to sign petitions using other people’s names.
The petitions appeared to be spread out in the windshield of the man’s car, and he accused Noyes of “violating my personal property, my privacy rights” before taking a swing at him.
As KGO reports, a couple of the names used on the petition included a Google employee who now lives in New York, and a woman who died in 2009.
Molly Weedn, a spokesperson for the "Building a Better California" campaign, which is funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, among others, said that law enforcement has been notified of the fraudulent activity.
“As soon as we were made aware of these incidents,” said Attorney Kurt Oneto with the Building a Better California campaign, “we reported the activities to elections officials and law enforcement — including the Secretary of State and the County District Attorneys and requested an immediate investigation.”
“We have further mandated that the petition gathering firm identify and permanently bar these individuals from the field while ensuring all associated petitions were identified, excluded from filings with election officials, and set aside for any law enforcement investigations,” he said.
“It is important to note that California's election officials do have strong systems in place that would screen out fraudulent signatures, such as those shown in these videos,” said Oneto.
As previously reported, the proposed billionaire tax, which would only affect about 250 people statewide, would raise tens of billions of dollars to alleviate federal cuts to the state’s healthcare and Medi-Cal programs.
Previously: Group Filmed Paying $5 Per Signature on Pro-Billionaire Petitions at Sixth and Mission
Image: Fly View Productions/Getty Images
