Blue State Graft Watch: 2 Upstate NY Democrats Indicted in Voter Fraud Case

A Troy, NY city councilman and the Renssalaer County Registrar of Voters- both Democrats- have been charged by a county grand jury in a 59-page, 116-count indictment.

The Rennssalaer County Grand Jury has charged Troy city Councilman Michael LoPorto and Registrar of Voters Edward McDonough with forgery and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Seven other public officials and political operatives are under scrutiny in a scheme in which the accused are said to have forged names, signatures and excuses on absentee ballots in a 2009 Working Families Party primary.

The case involves absentee ballots from the Working Families Party primary in September of 2009 for the Troy City Council and Rensselaer County legislature. It has been alleged the signatures and absentee excuses of unsuspecting voters were forged, all to ensure the Democratic candidates also won the Working Families Party line. Democratic candidates in New York State often run as Working Families Party hopefuls.

[Special Prosecutor Trey] Smith even collected DNA samples from the majority of the Troy City Council and others, which were compared to samples taken from absentee ballots and applications. Those swabbed include five City Councilmen, among them the Council President, as well as four other public officials and political operatives.

In the course of his investigation, Smith contacted a number of voters who supposedly voted absentee only to be told by the individuals that they never received an absentee ballot or that the excuse provided on the ballot ('attending business conference in Boston' or 'recovering from medical procedure') wasn't true.

[hat tip- Lonely Conservative; Robomonkey]