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Upstate NY County Elections Commissioner to plead Guilty to Voter Fraud [1]

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Date: 2022-12-31  

Humans, Oy!

Rensselaer County Elections Commissioner Jason Schofield (R) has a January court date to enter a change of plea, for Voter Fraud charges, stemming from an investigation of voter fraud by the United States Department of Justice. Apparently this guy has realized how deep the poo he is in is and has decided to cooperate with the investigation. Considering he was looking at 12 counts, with up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine attached to each count, it is not a big surprise that once he figured out that he is not invulnerable, he changed his mind.

The allegations are that he obtained personal information, applied for and filed absentee ballots from at least 8 people who did not intend to vote in last year’s primary and general elections. It has been reported that in some cases he actually went to see the people whose information he was using and got them to sign the envelopes.

He was arrested last September, and resigned his position as Elections Commissioner. Then at the beginning of December, the Rensselaer county legislators appointed him back to his old job. Oops! It’s not like they couldn’t have known he had been arrested. His lawyer has stated that after he enters his guilty plea he is going to resign. Again.

Rensselaer County is bordered by the Hudson river on the west, and lies between Schenectady and Albany. The only city in it you might find on a general map is the county seat, Troy (pop. a bit over 50K). It’s mostly in the NY 21st congressional district (Elise Stefanik R) but a wee bit was tucked into the 20th (Paul Tonko D)

This is not the first bit of trouble the county has had with elections irregularities. In 2021 the State Attorney General’s Office won a suit to require an increase in the number of Early Voting sites. there were not enough of them (my county only had 2, hope she takes a look over here) particularly in communities of color.

In December of 2021 the County Executive Steve McLaughlin was arrested and indicted on a number of charges relating to misappropriation of campaign contributions. That matter is still dragging through the courts.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/31/2144673/-Upstate-NY-County-Elections-Commissioner-to-plead-Guilty-to-Voter-Fraud

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