CA Signature Gatherer Agrees To Plead Guilty In Voter Registration Scheme

A longtime Los Angeles County petition circulator has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge after admitting she paid people, including homeless individuals in downtown Los Angeles, to register to vote.

Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, 64, of Marina del Rey, who also went by the name “Anika,” agreed to plead guilty to one count of paying another person to register to vote, a crime punishable by up to five years in federal prison.

Armstrong is scheduled to make her initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in Santa Ana.

According to federal prosecutors, Armstrong spent nearly two decades working as a petition circulator, collecting signatures from registered voters to qualify initiatives, referendums, and recalls for California ballots.

She was paid by coordinators based on the number of valid signatures she gathered from registered voters, with compensation varying depending on the specific ballot measure.

Court documents state that because payment depended on obtaining signatures from registered voters, Armstrong worked to ensure the people signing her petitions were registered or became registered.