New York: “FBI ballot fraud investigation shifts to GOP elections commissioner”

Times-Union:

The focus of an FBI investigation that led to the recent guilty plea of a Troy councilwoman is shifting to Jason T. Schofield, the Republican Rensselaer County Board of Elections commissioner, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

GOP employees at the board of elections have recently been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Albany. The county also recently received a new federal grand jury subpoena that sought materials related to absentee ballots that had been handled by Schofield last year, including through a state-run online portal, the sources said….

The actions of Schofield, 42, surfaced in the recent case involving former Troy Councilwoman Kimberly Ashe-McPherson. The 61-year-old, who had been on the council for seven years, pleaded guilty June 8 to a felony charge in U.S. District Court after admitting she had fraudulently submitted absentee ballots in last year’s primary and general elections. Ashe-McPherson resigned from the council a day after pleading guilty.

In Ashe-McPherson’s plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court, Schofield is the unidentified board of elections official listed as “Individual-3.” According to the document, Schofield had allegedly facilitated helping Ashe-McPherson obtain an absentee ballot through an online portal using the name and date of birth of a voter without “lawful authority.”

That absentee ballot, which was mailed to Ashe-McPherson’s residence, was submitted in the Working Families Party primary election that she won a year ago prior to being re-elected to the City Council in the general election.

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