Scores of MAGA voters are claiming they will travel to California to illegally vote for former reality TV star Spencer Pratt in Los Angeles’ mayoral primary election next month.
A recent social media trend has been gaining traction over the last several days on TikTok and X ahead of the state’s June 2 primary elections, where leading candidates include Pratt, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman.
“Getting ready to book a flight to Cali to vote for Spencer Pratt,” TikTok user and Florida resident tinas_tik_tok wrote in a video posted on Sunday.
“Me on the way to LA to vote for Spencer Pratt bc yall dont check ID’s,” TikTok user and Alabama resident Jena Bena wrote in a video posted on Tuesday.
“I have decided to fly to LA to vote for Spencer Pratt. What are they gonna do ID me? Pffffffff, that’s racist,” user patriotic_em wrote in a TikTok posted on Friday.
Even some MAGA celebrities have jumped on the trend, with actor James Woods posting an AI-generated meme on X on Tuesday, seemingly encouraging out-of-state voters to travel to Los Angeles and cast ballots.
“This would be wrong. And you could get in trouble when asked for your ID to vote. Oh, wait! Never mind. Voter ID is not allowed in California. Oh, and on a completely separate note, the best freeway hours are 10AM-11:30 AM. Just saying,” Woods wrote.
Woods posted a follow-up quote-tweet saying: “This is satire for the record.”
It’s unclear if any of the people making these claims actually intend to follow through on their promises to head west and commit voter fraud, or if they were just making political statements about California’s lack of a voter-ID law.
Pratt’s campaign did not respond to JS’s request for comment on the matter.
While California does not require proof of identification when casting a ballot, it does require residents to provide a government-issued ID or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote.
Furthermore, voters must provide their name and address as it appears on the state’s voter registration list when casting their ballot, according to the California Secretary of State’s website.
“The voter registration application asks for your driver license or California identification card number, or you can use the last four numbers on your Social Security card. If you do not have a driver license, California identification card or Social Security card, you may leave that space blank. Your county elections official will assign a number to you that will be used to identify you as a voter,” the website reads.
If any of the people making these posts and videos were to follow through with their intentions to vote illegally in Los Angeles, they would likely be turned away at the polls, as their names would not appear on any voter registration list.
If they were to attempt to vote under someone else’s registered name, they could face up to three years in prison under Section 1170(h) of the California Penal Code.
Accusations of voter fraud have been a staple of MAGA and President Donald Trump’s rhetoric throughout his political career, despite studies frequently showing instances are negligible.
See more posts from social media users making similar claims here: