The Republican elections board commissioner in upstate Rensselaer County, New York, is in big boy trouble. On Tuesday, Jason Schofield was arrested on charges of carrying out a ballot scheme that allowed him to cast votes in voters’ names. This reminds me of the case with Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. here in N.C., who was busted for a ballot scheme, too. I'm sensing a pattern here.
Via the Daily News:
Jason Schofield applied for absentee ballots for voters who did not want to vote and, in some instances, personally pushed voters to sign absentee ballot envelopes, positioning himself or his associates to commit voter fraud in primary and general elections in 2021, according to court papers.
The 12-count indictment charging Schofield said ballots were counted from at least four voters who were instructed to sign ballot envelopes but were not allowed to complete them.
This indictment comes as Schofield’s name came up in a federal investigation back in June that left Troy Councilwoman Kim Ashe-McPherson, a Republican, convicted of ballot fraud.
"On each of 12 counts, if convicted, Schofield would face up to 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years, the DOJ's statement reads."
As for McCrae Dowless, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison after pleading guilty but has since died of cancer.
