FBI Arrests a Hudson Valley County Elections Commissioner

On Tuesday, September 13th, the Republican Rensselaer County Board of Elections Commissioner Jason T. Schofield was arrested. The FBI apprehended him as he left his residence while on the way to the county office building where he works, reported by the Times Union. 

Rensselaer County's Election Commissioner Arrested

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Times Union (@timesunion)

Jason T. Schofield was arrested on Tuesday morning by the FBI. According to the indictment unsealed in US District Court, Schofield was charged with fraudulently obtaining and filing absentee ballots last year using the personal information of at least eight voters without their permission. Schofield is being charged with 12 felony counts of unlawful possession and use of a means of identification.

The indictment accuses Schofield of using an online state Board of Elections portal to request absentee ballots on behalf of eight unknowing and non-consenting voters. The indictment alleges that Schofield "falsely certified" that he was the person requesting the ballot when he entered the voters' names and information into said portal.

Get our free mobile app

The 42-year-old Schofield entered a plea of not guilty . The proceeding concluded with US Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart releasing Schofield on his on recognizance with no objections from the US attorney's office.

Following his arrest, workers in the county's information technology department entered Schofield's locked office at the Board of Elections and confiscated two computers and monitors. As to who authorized the removal, that information is unknown at this time.

It was reported in June that Schofield had become the focus of an FBI investigation that led to the guilty pleas of Kimberly Ashe-McPherson, a Troy councilwoman.

Schofield returned to work the day after his arrest.