"The actions of Schofield, 42, surfaced in the federal criminal case involving former Troy Councilwoman Kimberly Ashe-McPherson….she 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. ...Schofield was 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.”
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/Rensselaer-County-s-Republican-elections-17438122.php?IPID=Times-Union-HP-CP-spotlight
STATE
Rensselaer County's Republican elections commissioner arrested by FBI
The Times Union reported in June that Jason Schofield had become a focus of an FBI investigation that led to the guilty plea earlier this year of a Troy councilwoman
Brendan J. Lyons
Sep. 13, 2022
Updated: Sep. 13, 2022 10:35 a.m.
Democratic Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough, left, and Republican Elections Commissioner Jason Schofield, right, train poll workers how to set up the voting machine in preparation for the general election in 2020 in Troy. Schofield was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
Lori Van Buren/Times Union
TROY — Jason T. Schofield, the Republican Rensselaer County Board of Elections commissioner, was arrested Tuesday morning by the FBI as he left his residence and was on his way to the county office building where he works, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The Times Union reported in June that Schofield had become a focus of an FBI investigation that led to the guilty plea earlier this year of a Troy councilwoman. The indictment listing the charges against Schofield remains sealed pending his initial appearance scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court.
Mary E. Sweeney, the county's Democratic deputy elections commissioner, testified before a federal grand jury in Albany last week as federal authorities zeroed in on Schofield's use of an online portal to obtain absentee ballots.
GOP employees at the board of elections also were subpoenaed this summer to testify before the same federal grand jury in Albany. In addition, the county received a 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, sources told the Times Union.
Two Rensselaer County employees — Corine Sheldon, a senior elections registrar, and Kara Seifridsberger, another registrar — are among the witnesses who were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, according to sources briefed on the matter.
The actions of Schofield, 42, surfaced in the federal criminal 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 was 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.
The grand jury subpoena recently served on the county sought copies of records related to more than a half-dozen absentee ballot applications, including several that had been obtained through the state's online portal by Schofield.
Schofield declined to comment when contacted by the Times Union in June.
Seifridsberger and Sheldon, who work under Schofield at the board of elections, are among dozens of county employees who were subpoenaed during the investigation that began last year. Sheldon met with FBI agents in June and testified before the federal grand jury the following day. Seifridsberger also testified, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Earlier this year, Schofield was subpoenaed in connection with the federal investigation. Schofield also declined to comment at that time.
Ashe-McPherson was first elected to the City Council in 2015 and subsequently ran unsuccessfully for Rensselaer County Legislature — for a seat in which she was finishing an unexpired term. Her plea was the result of an FBI-led investigation that's been examining the filing of absentee ballots in multiple elections over the past two years.
It's unclear whether additional individuals will face charges in the investigation, which is ongoing. The State Police also were conducting a separate investigation of alleged ballot fraud in the city of Rensselaer's mayoral race last November — though that probe was not being coordinated with the U.S. Justice Department's investigation.
In recent months, the federal investigation began to intensify as subpoenas seeking testimony before a federal grand jury were issued to numerous rank-and-file county workers. Their testimony was sought after additional subpoenas requesting documents from the Rensselaer County Board of Elections had been served on the county, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Those subpoenas sought absentee ballot documents and communications involving multiple county officials. They were served on the county days after FBI agents seized the mobile phones of county Operations Director Richard W. Crist and Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing. Both men are political allies of county Executive Steve McLaughlin.
Their phones were seized at their respective residences on the morning of Feb. 3, according to two people briefed on the matter. The seizures took place the same day McLaughlin appeared in Rensselaer County Court for a pre-trial conference in an unrelated criminal case involving his alleged theft and misuse of campaign funds.
McLaughlin pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in that case, which is being prosecuted by the state attorney general's office.
County Republican leaders previously told the Times Union that they were unaware of any fraudulent activity by the party during the 2021 election, and that they had simply taken advantage of a directive from the state Board of Elections that allowed individuals to use absentee ballots if they did not want to vote in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.