Vacant California lot was temporary shelter for homeless registered voters, not a sign of fraud

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson recently said he had evidence of California voter fraud.

Addressing a camera as he stood in a parking lot with portable toilets, Johnson held up a pile of papers.

"Twenty-six registered voters at this exact location, 100 Sunset Avenue in Venice," he said, citing "the registrar at the secretary of state."

"Straight-up voter fraud out in the open," Johnson said in a Jan. 16 X post: "This (is) just a glimpse of what’s happening under Gavin Newsom," referring to the state’s Democratic governor.

The video had been viewed 1.3 million times as of Jan. 21.

PolitiFact asked Johnson about the video but received no response.

But the parking lot at the address in Johnson’s video used to be a temporary housing facility. Known as the Bridge Home, the facility opened in February 2020 to provide emergency shelter, hygiene services, storage, food services and case management to homeless people, local records show. Before it closed at the end of 2024, the shelter was part of a program that provided a "bridge" between street homelessness and long-term or permanent housing. 

Mike Sanchez, a Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder spokesperson, told PolitiFact that the address was associated with a shelter or transitional housing site. CityWatch reported the shelter officially closed on Dec. 31, 2024. 

"Under California law, eligible voters experiencing homelessness may register using a shelter as their physical location for voting," Sanchez wrote in an email. As of Jan. 20, he said, there were 23 active voter records associated with the address.

"This is not evidence of voter fraud," he said.

Sanchez said that if a facility address is used as a mailing address and voting materials are returned undeliverable, election officials follow standard list-maintenance protocols. That can include inactivating someone’s voter registration until the voter updates or confirms the address. 

"Any ballots cast by voters associated with these records are subject to the same verification and security as all ballots, including signature verification and the statutory notice-and-cure process," Sanchez wrote. 

People can register to vote as long as they have a location where they can receive mail and be properly assigned to a voting precinct. People cannot use a P.O. box or business address to register to vote, but it can be used as a mailing address.

The Secretary of State’s website says that in cases in which voters have no home address they can use to register, they must describe the location where they live, so county elections officials can find their voting precinct. People can use cross streets or parks as their addresses.

All eligible voters have the right to vote, including people experiencing homelessness. The 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count says there are 72,308 homeless people in Los Angeles County.

We rate this claim False.