The Republican Board of Elections commissioner for New York’s Rensselaer County was arrested by the FBI this Tuesday and charged with fraudulently obtaining and filing absentee ballots last year using the personal information of at least eight voters without their permission, the Albany Times Union reports.
Jason T. Schofield was charged with 12 felony counts of unlawful possession and use of a means of identification.
From the Albany Times Union:
Schofield was led into court in handcuffs just after 2 p.m. by three FBI agents, including two who have been pursuing the wide-ranging voter fraud investigation since last year. The 42-year-old entered a not guilty plea as a half-dozen of his supporters sat behind him in the courtroom. The proceeding concluded with U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart releasing him on his own recognizance with no objections from the U.S. attorney’s office.
…
The indictment accuses Schofield of using an online state Board of Elections portal to request absentee ballots on behalf of eight voters who had no interest in voting, did not request absentee ballots and didn’t know that Schofield was using their personal information to obtain the ballots. The indictment alleges the official “falsely certified” that he was the person requesting the ballot when he entered the voters’ names and dates of birth in the portal.
The ballots that were delivered to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections were subsequently filled out and submitted in last year’s primary election, the general election, and sometimes both.
Read the full report over at the Times Union.
