According to a local newspaper, the Republican elections board commissioner in Rensselaer County, New York, is scheduled to plead guilty after being accused of carrying out a brazen scheme that allowed him to cast votes in the names of other voters.
Jason Schofield, 43, of Troy, is scheduled to plead guilty on Jan. 11 in an agreement that includes a promise to cooperate with a massive federal investigation, according to the Albany Times Union, citing an anonymous source.
A court docket entry on December 13 set a “change of plea hearing” for Jan. 11, but did not specify how Schofield planned to plead. In September, he was arrested on a 12-count indictment.
According to court documents, Schofield applied for absentee ballots for voters who did not want to vote. According to court documents, he personally pushed voters to sign absentee ballot envelopes in some cases, positioning himself or his associates to commit voter fraud in primary and general elections last year.
According to court documents, ballots were counted from at least four voters who were instructed to sign ballot envelopes but were not permitted to complete them.
Rensselaer County elections are held in Troy, which is about seven miles northeast of downtown Albany.
On Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office in Albany declined to comment.
Schofield’s lawyer, Danielle Neroni, did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story, but she did tell the Times Union that her client would “be resigning from his position” in conjunction with his planned change of plea.
Neroni initially told the Daily News after Schofield’s arrest that the official maintained his innocence.
The Times Union reported earlier this year that Schofield had been subpoenaed in connection with a sprawling investigation that also resulted in a Troy city councilwoman pleading guilty to a count of identity theft.
Rensselaer County, a swing county, supported former President Donald Trump in 2016 and Vice President Joe Biden in 2020.
