Menifee City Council Candidate Charged With Election Fraud

RIVERSIDE, CA — A Menifee City Council candidate accused of faking his place of residence to qualify to run in the November election was out of custody Monday on a $30,000 bond, awaiting arraignment on multiple felony charges.

Randolph "Randy" Oscar Madrid, 73, was arrested Thursday following a Riverside County District Attorney's Office investigation. Madrid was booked into the Robert Presley Jail but posted bail before the weekend and was released.

Subscribe

Madrid is charged with two counts of perjury and one count each of filing a false declaration of candidacy and submitting false voter registration information.

He's tentatively slated to be arraigned on Oct. 23 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

"The case was initiated after investigators with the District Attorney's Office received an official complaint regarding Madrid's residency status," according to a DA's Office statement released Monday. "A subsequent investigation determined that Madrid did not live within Menifee, despite claiming to do so on his official registration and candidate filing paperwork."

According to documents posted to the municipality's web portal, Madrid is one of three candidates seeking to represent the Fourth District. He submitted a statement of candidacy in June. His paperwork was processed in July, and the defendant qualified for the ballot last month.

An online public records search indicated that Madrid has a residence in Lake Elsinore and previously resided in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

There was no immediate indication that Menifee or the county Office of the Registrar of Voters had invalidated Madrid's candidacy. However, the registrar will not print and distribute voter information pamphlets until the beginning of October.

The case is being prosecuted by the DA's Public Integrity Unit.

If convicted of all counts, the defendant could face up to five years in state prison. However, past election fraud convictions in the county generally have not resulted in prison time.

Madrid has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.