There’s something almost absurdly instructive about watching a social media trend expose how little people understand about the voting system they’re confidently misrepresenting. Over the past week, TikTok and X have erupted with posts from self-identified MAGA supporters claiming they’ll book flights to Los Angeles to illegally vote for reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the city’s June 2 mayoral primary. The stated reasoning is simple: California doesn’t require voter ID at the polls.
It’s a claim that’s gotten traction precisely because it contains just enough truth to sound plausible, wrapped around a misunderstanding so fundamental it almost hurts.
“Getting ready to book a flight to Cali to vote for Spencer Pratt,” one TikTok user wrote. Another, this time from Alabama, claimed she was “on the way to LA to vote for Spencer Pratt bc yall dont check ID’s.” Even actor James Woods got in on the action, posting an AI-generated meme that sarcastically suggested the best freeway hours for out-of-state voters to show up and cast ballots, before later calling the whole thing “satire.”
The posts tap into a real grievance in certain political circles: California’s lack of a voter ID requirement at the ballot box. But here’s where the narrative breaks down completely.
The Actual Rules Nobody Seems to Know
California does not require a government-issued ID when you show up to vote. That part is true. But that’s where the story stops for most of these posts, and that’s where the whole scheme falls apart.
To actually vote in California, your name has to appear on a voter registration list in the county where you’re casting your ballot. Registration requires providing either a driver’s license number, California ID number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you don’t have any of those, you can leave that space blank, and the county elections official will assign you an identification number.
When you show up to vote, you need to provide your name and address exactly as it appears on that registration list. If you’re not registered, you don’t vote. It’s that simple.
Someone flying in from Florida or Alabama with zero ties to Los Angeles wouldn’t be on any registration list. They’d show up, provide a name that isn’t registered, and get turned away. It’s not a loophole. It’s basic database matching.
What Actually Happens If You Try
The real kicker? If any of these people got clever and tried voting under someone else’s registered name, they’d be committing voter fraud, which carries penalties up to three years in prison under California Penal Code Section 1170(h). Not a fine. Not a slap on the wrist. Prison.
It’s unclear whether anyone making these posts actually intends to follow through. They might just be making a political statement about California’s lack of in-person ID requirements. Or they might genuinely believe their own mythology about voting in the state. Either way, what’s instructive here is how easily a misunderstanding about one procedural detail (no ID check at the ballot box) gets weaponized into false claims about an entirely different thing (easy voter fraud).
This pattern isn’t new. Accusations of voter fraud have been a staple of Trump-era rhetoric and right-wing politics, despite research consistently showing instances are negligible in actual practice.
The Bigger Picture
What’s particularly telling is how this reflects a larger conversation about election security in America. The focus on voter ID as a security mechanism misses how voter registration itself is the actual firewall. You can be as lax as you want about checking ID at the polls if your registration system is solid and your counties maintain accurate rolls.
California’s approach essentially prioritizes accessibility over a specific security theater. Whether that’s good policy or not is a legitimate debate. But that debate gets completely muddled when people use misunderstandings about the system to fuel false narratives about fraud.
Spencer Pratt’s campaign hasn’t responded to requests for comment about the social media trend. The leading candidates in the race include incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman. None of them need out-of-state voters playing fast and loose with the law to make their cases.
The real question isn’t whether these posts represent an actual voting conspiracy. It’s whether we’ve reached a point where election security has become so politicized that even people trying to make a point about it end up spreading misinformation instead.
