Video: $5 to sign a petition on someone’s behalf? California begins investigation

A video circulating online appears to show signature gatherers paying people to sign petitions under other people’s names, according to officials, and now the state has opened an investigation.

I videoshot by videographer JJ Smith, shows a long line leading to a table set up at 6th and Mission streets in San Francisco. The man on the line says they are being offered $5 to sign petitions. At the table, where there is a list of registered voters, the woman confirms the payment and – using a highlighter – instructs the person the name and address to use.

“I got $5 too?” asked the videographer.

“Yes,” said the woman.

“And what?”

He says: “Just sign it.”

Requests linked to at least three ballot campaigns — including a billionaire-backed effort to block California’s proposed billionaire tax — appear in the video..

“I went to some people and asked them what they wanted,” Smith told The Times. “They told me they didn’t know what they were signing, they said they only wanted $5.”

Smith said he watched the scene for several hours and estimated that several hundred people cycled along the line for about two hours.

Those running the table did not ask who it was and did not give an explanation of what was actually being signed, he said.

The video showed San Luis Obispo County voter data that was both visible and, as the information was spoken aloud, audible in the images.

The county took immediate action after becoming aware of the video and began an investigation with the California secretary of state’s fraud unit, said Erin Clausen, public information officer for the San Luis Obispo county clerk’s office.

Clausen noted that, although voter registration data can be legally requested from county election offices, the data in this case may be misused. The district also plans to reach out directly to voters specifically mentioned or identified in the video, according to Clausen.

“The activity depicted in the video, if verified, would violate California election law,” County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano said in a statement. official statement released Wednesday morning.

The secretary of state’s office confirmed that it has opened an official investigation.

“Under California law, it is illegal to offer money or other consideration to another person to sign a petition,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Those who abuse our system will be held accountable.”

The office is working with local officials and encourages anyone with information to file a complaint.

Another political committee, Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, has confirmed that its petitions are among those whose collectors were suspected of paying people to sign and then leaving immediately to distance themselves from the project.

“We do not tolerate this type of activity in the signature collection process,” said spokeswoman Molly Weedn. “We have taken immediate action and want the company that collects signatures to identify these circulators and reject their claims.” Weedn said the collectors were subcontractors, not campaign workers, and said lawyers were communicating with authorities.

That committee was funded by another group, Building a Better California, which was also among the campaigns that appeared in the video. One was for a proposed plan called the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act of 2026. Representatives for the two did not respond to requests for comment.

Smith said this is not the first time he has seen this type of incident in the area.

“I saw the same thing with the votes three days ago,” he said.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information can submit a complaint to the California Secretary of State’s Office or contact their local county elections office.

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.