Election authorities in California announced Friday they are examining allegations that ballot petition workers in San Francisco broke the law by paying individuals to sign petitions with fabricated identities.
A video that went viral on social media earlier this week captured a sign advertising “Sign petition for $5” with a queue of people lined up on the sidewalk. The footage shows a woman seated at a portable table who appears to be telling people what names and addresses to write on the petition forms. When asked by the person filming about the petition’s purpose, the woman simply responded, “Just sign it.”
The California secretary of state’s office confirmed in a written statement that officials were “aware of, and investigating, the matter.”
California’s ballot initiative process allows citizens to place measures before voters by collecting hundreds of thousands of valid signatures. While campaigns are permitted to compensate signature gatherers for each name they collect, this creates pressure to maximize the number of signatures obtained.
The video revealed that at least one petition was connected to a technology industry-supported ballot measure designed to counter a proposed tax on billionaires. The initiative receives funding from Building a Better California, an organization established by prominent business figures including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who contributed $20 million.
Molly Weedn, speaking for the campaign, clarified that the signature collectors were not direct employees of their organization. She stated the campaign was working with authorities to disqualify any petitions containing fraudulent information.
“Under no circumstance do we tolerate this type of activity,” Weedn declared. “Our campaign took immediate action and campaign attorneys reported to authorities.”
Weedn added that election officials were contacted immediately after the video became public.
The video also showed another ballot petition backed by Building a Better California, this one aimed at blocking new taxes on retirement savings. Nathan Click, representing that campaign, emphasized they “does not tolerate fraudulent activity in any signature-gathering process.”
“As soon as we became aware of the activities in question, we demanded that our signature-gathering firm identify the petition circulator, reject any and all petitions submitted by this circulator,” Click stated.
Multiple petitions were visible on the table, though it remains uncertain whether additional campaigns were involved.
State election law prohibits offering monetary payments or other incentives in exchange for ballot measure signatures, according to the secretary of state’s office. All petition signatures undergo verification against voter registration databases, and those that fail to match are rejected.
“It is also a crime to circulate, sign and/or file those signed petitions with an election official any initiative petition that is known to include forged names,” the office explained.
