The FBI is reportedly investigating allegations of voter fraud on Los Angeles’ Skid Row after former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt and his supporters raised concerns following his election loss.
Federal agents were reportedly seen in the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood this week, asking questions about claims that homeless people may have been paid in connection with voter registration, ballots or petition signatures.
The investigation comes after Pratt, the former reality TV star from The Hills, failed to advance to the November runoff in the Los Angeles mayoral race.
Pratt initially appeared to be in position to reach the runoff, but later fell to third place as mail-in ballots continued to be counted. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman are now set to face each other in November.
After the shift in results, Pratt and several conservative figures questioned the vote count and pointed to Skid Row as a possible source of fraud.
President Donald Trump also amplified claims about the race, calling the result “rigged” in a social media post. However, there has been no public evidence showing that fraud changed the outcome of the mayoral election.
One confirmed federal case has already drawn attention to Skid Row. The Justice Department announced in May that Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, a 64-year-old Marina del Rey woman, was charged with paying people, including homeless individuals on Skid Row, to register to vote.
According to federal prosecutors, Armstrong worked as a paid petition circulator for years. She allegedly offered small payments, usually between $2 and $3, to people who signed petitions and, in some cases, completed voter registration forms.
Prosecutors said Armstrong sometimes provided her own former address when people without permanent housing did not have an address to list on registration paperwork.
Armstrong agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of paying another person to register to vote. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
Los Angeles County election officials condemned the conduct in that case, saying it exploited unhoused residents and undermined trust in elections. But the registrar’s office also stressed that voter registration applications and mail ballots are subject to verification safeguards.
The newest FBI activity appears to be connected to broader questions and videos circulating after the mayoral primary. Local election officials have said videos making claims about Skid Row registration activity have been forwarded to law enforcement when verifiable information can be identified.
Pratt has framed the reported FBI visit as proof that his warnings were justified. Critics argue that his fraud claims remain unproven and risk turning isolated misconduct into a broader conspiracy theory.
The case has now become a flashpoint in a larger political fight over homelessness, election integrity and mail-in voting in California.
For now, the legal facts are limited: a Skid Row voter registration case has produced a federal charge and a planned guilty plea, while the broader claims about the Los Angeles mayoral race remain under investigation and unproven.
