Exclusive | Skid Row homeless claim they've been paid to vote for Karen Bass and Nithya Raman 62%

By Katie Jerkovich0%

6/10/2026, 12:38:26 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 16 faulty reasoning types, including Unattributed Quote, Framing Effect, and Biased Writer Voice, with Anecdotal as the most egregious example at 37.6% saturation with 207 hits. Analysis detected 1,056 faulty-reasoning hits from 551 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 57.1% and a BS Rank of 62% (8,482 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 61.20% of the article peer group.

A series of shocking videos appear to show homeless residents on Los Angeles’ Skid Row claiming they were paid to vote for Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Nithya Raman. 
The California Post obtained copies of the videos after they were published Tuesday on the TikTok account LaneNeedsSpencerPratt. 
The footage, recorded near 7th Street and Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, has since been provided to the Department of Justice. 
The content creator behind the videos said he visited the area after being alerted by a friend who works nearby and claimed to have seen political volunteers operating in the neighborhood in the lead-up to the election. 
One man, identified as Kevin Shepherd, claimed he received $4 to vote for Bass. 
When asked whether he would also have been paid to vote for Raman, Shepherd claimed the answer was yes and said Spencer Pratt was not among the candidates he was encouraged to support. 
“They gave you an optional choice,” Shepherd claimed, alleging he negotiated for a higher payment and ultimately received $4. 
Shepherd further claimed he completed a mail-in ballot for Bass and deposited it in a ballot box. 
“Everybody said it was normal,” the content creator told The Post. 
Several residents alleged that outreach workers allegedly visited the area as often as three to five times a week before the election, with several organizations purportedly involved. 
She also alleged that homeless residents were being taken advantage of. 
Another woman, who said she was living on the street, claimed she was told to vote for Bass and received $2 in exchange. 
The unidentified woman-who said she lived on the street- claimed she was told to vote for Bass and got $2 in exchange for her vote. 
“It was like two bucks,” she said, adding that “yeah they come out here all the time.” 
A fourth resident, identified as Mark Sanchez, claimed he had been approached repeatedly by political canvassers. 
“To sign a petition for the mayor or different things in office and they paid me $4 or $5 in different accounts,” Sanchez claimed. 
Sanchez further alleged the payments occurred multiple times. 
“It happened more than four or five times,” he claimed. 
No voter-registration activity was observed by The Post during the visit. 
However, several residents interviewed in the videos described political outreach efforts as a common occurrence in the neighborhood during the campaign. 
The videos surfaced one day after former reality television star Spencer Pratt was eliminated from the Los Angeles mayoral race as Raman surged into contention for a runoff spot. 
The California Post was unable to independently verify the claims made in the videos. 
It is unclear who conducted the alleged outreach efforts, whether any payments were connected to voting activity, or what documents residents were asked to complete. 
Neither Bass nor Raman has been accused of wrongdoing, and there is no evidence either campaign was involved in the alleged activities described by the individuals interviewed. 
However, the videos offer a glimpse into the extensive political outreach operations that several residents claimed were a regular feature of Skid Row life in the lead-up to the election. 
The California Post reached out to Bass and Raman campaign for further comment. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 8.0%Katie Jerkovich: 2.7%California Post: 4.1%Confirmation Bias8.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.5%California Post: 1.4%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 15.2%Katie Jerkovich: 5.9%California Post: 4.2%Availability Heuristic15.2%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.2%California Post: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.1%California Post: 0.8%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.5%California Post: 2.2%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 18.3%Katie Jerkovich: 13.8%California Post: 10.3%Framing Effect18.3%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.2%California Post: 0.9%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.6%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 5.4%Katie Jerkovich: 1.0%California Post: 2.5%Optimism Bias5.4%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.2%California Post: 1.5%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 10.3%Katie Jerkovich: 14.4%California Post: 16.0%Negativity Bias10.3%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 4.1%California Post: 2.4%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.9%California Post: 1.5%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.2%California Post: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.2%California Post: 1.6%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.7%California Post: 1.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 3.7%California Post: 3.1%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.5%California Post: 0.6%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 5.3%Katie Jerkovich: 1.8%California Post: 1.6%Recency Bias5.3%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.1%California Post: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 2.4%California Post: 2.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.3%California Post: 0.5%Straw Man0.0%This article: 4.5%Katie Jerkovich: 2.2%California Post: 4.2%Appeal to Authority4.5%This article: 4.9%Katie Jerkovich: 1.6%California Post: 1.5%False Dilemma4.9%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.7%California Post: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.1%California Post: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 10.5%Katie Jerkovich: 5.6%California Post: 5.5%Hasty Generalization10.5%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.4%California Post: 0.7%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.4%California Post: 1.4%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 11.2%California Post: 8.9%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.7%California Post: 1.1%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 5.3%Katie Jerkovich: 4.1%California Post: 2.7%Post Hoc (False Cause)5.3%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 2.5%Katie Jerkovich: 0.9%California Post: 0.8%Burden of Proof2.5%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.4%California Post: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 37.6%Katie Jerkovich: 7.9%California Post: 3.6%Anecdotal37.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.0%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 16.5%Katie Jerkovich: 2.1%California Post: 2.0%Ambiguity (Equivocation)16.5%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.1%California Post: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.1%California Post: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.4%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 25.8%Katie Jerkovich: 5.7%California Post: 3.2%Unattributed Quote25.8%This article: 3.1%Katie Jerkovich: 2.5%California Post: 2.1%Quote-first Misdirection3.1%This article: 18.3%Katie Jerkovich: 10.1%California Post: 13.1%Biased Writer Voice18.3%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 1.2%California Post: 1.4%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 0.0%California Post: 0.4%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 2.9%California Post: 3.0%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Jerkovich: 3.5%California Post: 6.0%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

551 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers26%attributed speech410writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 37 words • 100.0% coverageKevin Shepherd • 14 words • 0.0% coverageKevin Shepherd • 33 words • 0.0% coverageKevin Shepherd • 19 words • 100.0% coverageKevin Shepherd • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageMark Sanchez • 16 words • 0.0% coverageMark Sanchez • 24 words • 0.0% coverageMark Sanchez • 8 words • 0.0% coverageMark Sanchez • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Mark Sanchez

100%flagged-word coverage
58 attributed words41% of attributed speech92% writer coverage
0%15.0%30.0%Unattributed Quote-30.0 ptsWriter: 30.0%Mark Sanchez: 0.0%0.0%Biased Writer Voice-24.6 ptsWriter: 24.6%Mark Sanchez: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-4.1 ptsWriter: 4.1%Mark Sanchez: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.