Menifee Council Candidate Charged With Faking His Address to Run: Madrid, 73, Pleads Not Guilty and Stays on the November Ballot
In Menifee, a city in Riverside County, California, a city council candidate has been accused of faking his place of residence to qualify to run in the November election. Randolph “Randy” Oscar Madrid, 73, was arraigned on Friday, October 23, in Riverside County Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to multiple felony charges.
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. The case is being prosecuted by the Public Integrity Unit of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel scheduled a felony settlement conference for February 3 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. Madrid is free on $30,000 bond; if convicted of all counts, he could face up to five years in state prison. Records show no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
According to a statement released by the District Attorney's Office in mid-September, the case began after investigators received an official complaint regarding Madrid's residency status, and a subsequent investigation determined that Madrid did not live within Menifee despite claiming to do so on his official registration and candidate filing paperwork. Madrid surrendered on September 10 and was booked at the Robert Pressley Detention Center, where he was released after posting $30,000 bail. He had recently resigned from his position on the city's planning commission.
Madrid disputes the allegations. According to The Riverside Record, he denied any wrongdoing and said the charges resulted from a real estate deal falling through: he lives in Lake Elsinore and was in the process of buying a home in Menifee, filed his paperwork with the Menifee City Clerk using that address, and registered to vote there as he said he was told he needed to do to be eligible to run. After the deal fell through, he said, he canceled his voter registration at that address and asked whether he could withdraw from the election, but was told the deadline had already passed. He said he had been recruited to run for the District 4 seat with the support of a number of builders and developers.
Menifee's City Council District 4 covers the northeast of the city. Madrid is one of three candidates for the seat, along with Frank Sandoval and Daniel Stephens. He submitted his statement of candidacy in June, his paperwork was processed in July, and he qualified for the ballot on August 5. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters said Madrid remains on the ballot for the November 3 election. Elizabeth Florer, the registrar's public information officer, said the filing of criminal charges does not, by itself, remove a qualified candidate from the ballot, that the withdrawal deadline was August 7, 2026, and that any change to his ballot status would have to occur through the applicable legal process. Madrid is currently registered to vote in Lake Elsinore.
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Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于加州河滨县 Menifee 的 Menifee Justice Center（河滨县高等法院）实景。照片：Ageofultron，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Menifee Justice Center (Riverside County Superior Court) in Menifee, California. Photo: Ageofultron, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
