Former Rensselaer County elections commissioner pleads guilty to ID theft

ABC News 10 ^ | January 11, 2023 | Michael Mahar

[Coronal]

RENSSELAER, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Jason Schofield, a former Rensselaer County elections commissioner, has pleaded guilty to unlawfully using the names and dates of birth of voters to fraudulently apply for absentee ballots. Schofield, 43, faces up to five years in prison on each count (a 12-count indictment), a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to three years. Schofield was arrested in September of 2022.

The Department of Justice says Schofield pleaded guilty to unlawfully using the names and dates of birth of voters to fraudulently apply for absentee ballots during elections held in Rensselaer County in 2021. Schofield was an Elections Commissioner at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections until late last month when he resigned in anticipation of Wednesday’s guilty plea.

Sentencing for Schofield is scheduled for May 12.

[Tell It Right]

Small potatoes. This is so the DOJ can say they're doing something about vote cheating, while avoiding the massive cheats that make a difference.

This is also so the Drive By Media can have an example to point to so they can say, "See. Vote fraud is tiny."

[TangoLimaSierra]

Up till now these petty little bureaucrats thought election tampering was a fun game. They got brazen because no one was ever punished. As more of these get jail time it will cease to be a game.

Hopefully this guy will get real jail time.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

This is kind of a new wrinkle, is it not? I’ve not heard of a ballot fraud being prosecuted under ID theft laws. I like it. Mere ballot fraud is hardly looked upon as anything serious, despite how FReepers (and any other rational parties) view it. But there are far more assiduous and importantly, already-in-place laws regarding ID theft.

[lepton]

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