Orange County mayor pleads guilty to barred from office after falsifying election paperwork

An Orange County mayor has been barred from office after she pleaded guilty on Friday to falsifying nomination paperwork during her re-election campaign.

Carol Gamble served the city of Rancho Santa Margarita as mayor and as a city council member for the last 20 years. in her guilty plea, Gamble admitted to falsifying the 20 signatures from registered voters to qualify as a candidate for the city council. 

"American democracy relies on the absolute integrity of the electoral process," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. "Voters must have total confidence that every election is being carried out in a fair and unbiased manner. Interference in the electoral process in any manner and at any stage jeopardizes the will of the people being carried out while eroding the trust of voters that their vote counts."

As part of the deal, Gamble pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor of the California Elections Code — making a false affidavit concerning signatures appended to an initiative — rather than felony perjury. The document required her to sign it under penalty of perjury.

 As a result, she will have to serve 160 hours of community service, submit her DNA and pay restitution that will be determined after the election.

"The decision to file criminal charges against the candidate prior to an election is not a decision I made lightly but given the risk to the electoral process as well as the potential of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita having to pay for a special election should Gamble be re-elected, there was no choice but to file criminal charges prior to the election and alert voters of her ineligibility to run for City Council," Spitzer said.

In her affidavit, Gamble said she witnessed the supporters sign the document however, numerous voters who signed her paperwork told investigators that she did not witness them signing the nomination forms, according to the OCDA.