Fullerton City Council candidate charged with multiple felonies for forging paperwork

A man running for Fullerton City Council now faces felony charges for forging his candidacy papers, according to federal prosecutors.

Scott Edward Markowitz was charged on Friday last week with perjury by declaration as well as procuring or offering false or forged documents to be filed, registered or recorded. Both charges are felonies, according to Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Markowitz, who is running for the City Council Ward 4 position, was arrested on Monday evening and booked at a jail in Santa Ana, prosecutors said in a statement.

Despite the fact that he will remain on the ballot for November's election, considering the discovery came so close to the actual date, Markowitz will not be eligible to take the position if he wins.

"Due to his ineligibility to serve on the City Council, if Markowitz is elected, the city of Fullerton would be forced to hold a special election to elect a candidate eligible to be seated," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say that city council candidates must sign in attestation under penalty of perjury that they personally collected the necessary signatures to qualify as a candidate, something they say Markowitz did not do.

They say that Markowitz signed candidate nomination paperwork stated that he was the circulator of the candidate paperwork and collected the minimum 30 signatures required for nomination. That paperwork must be signed by the same person that witnessed the signatures in person.

"Markowitz attested under penalty of perjury that he personally witnessed the signatures, but numerous voters who signed Markowitz' nomination paperwork told district attorney investigators that Markowitz was not the circulator of the paperwork, and he did not witness them signing the nomination papers, rendering the signatures invalid," the statement said.

He is going up against two other candidates for the position, both of whom will be the candidates in the special election if it occurs.

"American democracy relies on the absolute integrity of the electoral process," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a statement. "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 the elected District Attorney of Orange County, I refuse to allow our electoral process to be subverted and exploited by anyone. 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 Fullerton having to pay for a special election should Markowitz be elected, there was no choice but to file criminal charges prior to the election and alert voters of his ineligibility to run for City Council. The Orange County District Attorney's Office remains fiercely committed to investigating and prosecuting election fraud to ensure the voice of every Orange County resident is heard when they cast their ballot."