ALBANY, NY – A Rensselaer County elections official was set up Tuesday to be accused by federal authorities of fraudulently obtaining absentee ballots last year, using voters’ personal information without the consent of the federal government. without their consent.
The indictment of Jason Schofield, a Republican election commissioner, emerges from a lengthy federal investigation into possible voter fraud across Rensselaer County, just east of Albany.
The indictment accuses Mr Schofield or an employee acting at his direction of using an online portal to apply for absentee ballots on behalf of at least eight people in 2021, when county elections is being held for the Rensselaer County executive, secretary and legislature. to the Mayor of Rensselaer and the Council of Troy.
The allegation papers detail four of the absentee ballots prosecutors say Mr Schofield obtained. Mr Schofield did not “request or allow” voters to weigh in, other than letting them sign the back of the ballots – which would have allowed him to fill them out himself. The ballots are then returned to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections for processing.
Mr Schofield, prosecutors said, requested ballots on behalf of people “not interested in voting, absenteeism or otherwise,” and did not ask for his help in voting. promissory note. Some did not know that he was using their personal information.
The indictment said the ballots were requested by Mr Schofield on at least five days between May and October 2021, during a period during which voters could request absentee ballots online because of the Covid-19 pandemic. -19 is going on. In some cases, Mr. Schofield obtained ballots in such a way that they appeared to be mailed to voters.
The allegations were first reported by Albany Times Unionpreviously reported that Mr. Schofield was the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation.
That investigation came to light after an earlier federal investigation centered on a former Troy city councilwoman, Kimberly Ashe-McPherson, Times Union reported.
Ashe-McPherson, a Republican, cast three absentee ballots in names that were not hers, and she received instructions from an unnamed official at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections, according to reports. newsletter at that time.
Ashe-McPherson resigned after pleading guilty to federal identity theft for voting on someone else’s behalf.
Mr Schofield faces 12 counts of unlawful possession and use of identification vehicles. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. He has pleaded not guilty.
“Mr. Schofield maintains his innocence and will continue to fight the case,” his attorney, Danielle Neroni, said in a statement.
Mr. Schofield is President of the Board of Education in Troy before he resigned in 2018 to become an election commissioner.
In June 2021, a month after Mr. Schofield was first accused of rigging an absentee ballot request, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, sued Rensselaer County and its election commissioners for did not designate fully accessible early voting locations in Troy, where many of the county’s voters of color reside. A judge ordered the county to find more accessible locations, a decision later upheld by the Board of Appeals.
“Despite the availability of potential early voting locations in Troy – the county’s most densely populated area – the BOE and its trustees consistently refuse to choose an early voting location that Troy residents can afford. easily accessible, the county’s Black, Hispanic majority. , and lower income communities,” according to a statement from Ms. James’s office.
Mr. Schofield was arranged Tuesday in the Northern District of New York, before Court Judge Daniel J. Stewart, and was brought in on his own admission.
