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A Honduran agitator arrested earlier this year at an anti-ICE protest in Southern California was busted by the FBI Friday on charges of illegally registering to vote — part of a crackdown on suspected election fraud in California.

Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores, 30, a Honduran national living in the San Fernando Valley, is accused of two felonies related to his false claims of US citizenship to complete voter registration forms, prosecutors say.

Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores Department of Justice
United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post

Rivera Flores’ early-morning arrest outside a health-care center in Ventura is just the beginning of a war on suspected election fraud that has the full support of Washington, said LA’s top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli.

“Today’s arrest is the first of many to come,” he said of the case.

“States like California allow non-citizens to easily register to vote and receive a ballot by mail,” he added. “There’s no telling how many non-citizens are currently registered to vote.”

The arrest of Rivera Flores, a noncitizen but lawful permanent resident of the US, comes as federal agents chase a slew of suspect election fraud cases in Los Angeles revealed by The California Post. They include an investigation into an alleged pay-for-vote scheme in Skid Row, where The California Post observed agents interviewing homeless who may have participated.

During California’s drawn-out primary election in June, a federal prosecutor visited the LA County ballot processing facility, one day after President Trump said the state’s voting process was “under investigation” by the US Attorney’s Office.

Assistant US Attorney Robert Renner toured LA’s ballot counting center amid outrage over the glacial pace of vote counting.

Evidence from a criminal complaint and arrest warrant for Rivera Flores Department of Justice
Ballots processing center in City of Industry Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post

When The Post visited the voting office, rows of workstations sat empty.

Essayli said he is currently pursuing several election fraud investigations in coordination with the FBI and other agencies. His office was behind the arrest of Rivera, who faces charges of falsely claiming US citizenship and fraudulent voter registration.  

On Friday, the Post was there as agents surrounded Rivera Flores’ outside his work and took him into custody.

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Officers with swooped on the noncitizen and placed him in cuffs before taking himaway in a gray van for processing.

“I did not do nothing,” he said. “This is abuse.”

He is expected to appear in federal court Friday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles.

Plainclothes FBI agents speak to people in Skid Row Andy Johnstone for CA Post
Assistant United States Attorney Robert Renner Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post

Court records say Rivera Flores was born in Honduras and entered the US in 2002.  Although he is here legally, prosecutors say he is not a citizen, which is a requirement for voting in federal and local elections.

In February, Rivera Flores attended an anti-ICE protest in Camarillo, where he physically disrupting immigration law enforcement operations at a federal building. He pled guilty and was placed on one year of probation.

In April, Rivera Flores began sending a series of text messages to a federal agent while hurling curses, calling the agent a b—ch and insulting him.  

“Stop hurting my people,” he wrote. “Tell your people to act like humans.”

In one message, Rivera indicated he would be voting in the upcoming midterms.

“I can’t wait until the mid terms you dont have qualified immunity then we can start and indict all you guys one bye [sic] one,” he wrote.  

Evidence from a criminal complaint and arrest warrant for Rivera Flores Department of Justice

Law enforcement investigated and discovered an online voter registration record in the name of “Darwin Rivera” associated with his Winnetka address. Agents also obtained a voter registration application with Rivera Flores’ signature and a voter registration receipt.

Under the application question of “Did someone help you fill out this form” Rivera Flores’ answer was “no,” and a check mark was added next to the application wording “I am a U.S. citizen.” He used his driver’s license as identification to register.

There is no record of Rivera seeking or obtaining US citizenship. He also has not voted in an election.

Essayli said that California’s lax voter registration laws invite fraud by allowing people to register to vote with no ID and to cast ballots with unofficial identification such as gym identification cards, insurance cards and utility bills.

Because the state does not share its voter rolls with the feds, authorities are unable to assess whether those who register are actually US citizens. People who want to vote in California can simply register online.

A spokesperson for the California Sate Department, which oversees elections, said anyone registered to vote must attest, under penalty of perjury, that they are a US Citizen and not otherwise ineligible to vote. 

When a person registers, their identity is verified through a comparison with data from the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security Administration, the spokesperson added.

Approximately 98% percent of all registered voters in California include a driver’s license or the last four numbers of their Social Security number when registering to vote. 

But driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers may be issued to non-citizens, Essayli said, adding the state is turning a blind eye to the question of whether or not voters actually possess citizenship.

California is home to roughly five million non-US citizens. It’s unclear how many of them are registered to vote.

The state has refused to share voter information with the federal government.

“They will not give us the voter rolls, so we can check them to make sure that only citizens are on there,” Essayli.  

In an attempt to force California and other states to share voter rolls, President Trump this month moved to restrict mail-in ballots in states that refuse to submit voter information into an online portal run by the US Postal Service.

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily prohibited the Postal Service from carrying out the plan, saying it appeared to overstep the agency’s legal mandate and could spark chaos by changing rules fewer than 70 days before an election.


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