Jason Schofield, a former Elections Commissioner for Rensselaer County, New York, has been sentenced to one year of probation. He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and a $1,200 special assessment. This sentence comes after Schofield admitted to using the identities of voters without their consent to apply for absentee ballots during the 2021 elections in Rensselaer County.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Schofield served as an Elections Commissioner at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections from April 2018 until December 2022. He resigned before entering his guilty plea.
He pleaded guilty to a 12-count indictment, acknowledging that he had unlawfully used voter information to submit absentee ballot applications through the New York State Voter Absentee Ballot Application Request Portal in 2021.
Schofield confessed that he falsely certified himself as the voter on each application and personally took possession of nine ballots while knowing that records would incorrectly show they were mailed to voters.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.