Hollywood celebrities at center of LA voter registration controversy

High-profile Hollywood celebrities have been swept up in a growing voter registration controversy in Los Angeles.

Hollywood stars including Jennifer Aniston, Jenna Dewan and Nicollette Sheridan were allegedly registered to vote using the address of a WeHo financial management office, rather than their homes.

According to the Daily Mail, 36 voters were linked to Suite 600 of a building on Sunset Boulevard that serves as the office of financial adviser Michael Ullman and his firm, Platinum Financial Management.

The outlet reported the registrations listed the office address as a residence rather than simply a mailing address.

Among the celebrities identified were Aniston, Dewan, Katheryn Winnick, Sheridan, Laura Harrier, Matt Czuchry, Debbie Gibson and Hamish Linklater.

The Post has reached out to the celebrities for comment.

Ullman told the outlet he knew his celebrity clients used the office for mail purposes but disputed the suggestion that they lived there.

“They don’t live here,” Ullman told the outlet. “It’s just a mailing address, but it’s not their residential address. So it gets mailed here, but they voted in their area.”

Los Angeles County election officials took a different view, stating the registrations in question were allegedly recorded as residential addresses rather than mailing addresses.

“That’s weird. That’s not my understanding,” Ullman said. The Post has reached out to the LA County registrar for comment and clarification on whether it is looking into the matter.

“Under Los Angeles County guidance cited by the Daily Mail, voters are generally required to register at their place of residence, while business addresses and post office boxes may be used only for mailing purposes.”

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A person may only register to vote at their place of residence. A business address or a P.O. Box number may only be used as a mailing address, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s FAQ’s page.

The report indicates several high-profile celebrities may have listed their managers’ business addresses as their primary residences on voter registration forms, which could constitute perjury and may have enabled them to vote in jurisdictions where they do not actually reside.

“Hollywood celebrities have spent years lecturing America about the sanctity of democracy and the importance of every vote.

“Now we learn that dozens of them couldn’t be bothered to follow the most basic rule of voter registration: sign your name and state the truth about where you live,” Matt Klink an elections expert, told the Post.

Election attorney Amber Hulse said California law still requires voters to identify their true domicile even if they use another address to receive mail.

“If, for example, Jennifer Aniston is using it as her residence, when it is clearly not her residence, then it would be illegal,” Hulse told the Daily Mail. She added that voter registration forms are signed under penalty of perjury.

The outlet reported none of the 36 registrants associated with the office appeared to have confidentiality exemptions that would shield their home addresses from public records.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder spokesman Michael Sanchez told the outlet that officials are reviewing the matter.

“Under California law, voters must register at the address they identify as their domicile or residence,” Sanchez said. He added that the county is “continuing to review the records associated with this address.”

The building also contains residential units, which may have complicated the registration review process.

“In all likelihood, this incident will result in a light punishment (the equivalent of a hand-slap) but a public acknowledgement that this occurred, was wrong, and needs to stop in the future,” Klink said.

There is no suggestion those named in the report voted in the recent elections through the West Hollywood office.