Councilwoman cast absentee ballots using other voters’ names in New York, feds say
A city councilwoman in upstate New York cast three absentee ballots for other people while she was running for re-election, before she won in November 2021, according to federal prosecutors.
Kim McPherson, 63, of Troy, won’t serve prison time after prosecutors said she pleaded guilty to unlawful possession and use of a means of identification of another person in June 2022.
Now, a judge has sentenced McPherson to one year of probation and ordered her to pay a $1,500 fine on the charge of identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said in a Nov. 1 news release.
Her “crime — unlawfully casting ballots in the names of other people, while herself a candidate for public office — is a serious crime deserving of punishment,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett wrote in a filing ahead of McPherson’s sentencing.
However, in asking for a sentence of two years probation, Barnett wrote the “court must also take into account (her) age and lack of criminal history…”
McPherson’s defense attorney, Matthew J. Chauvin, told McClatchy News in an emailed statement on Nov. 4 that McPherson “accepted responsibility for the mistake that she made, has been and will continue to be focused on rebuilding the trust of her family and community.”
In 2021, McPherson ran for re-election to the Troy City Council in the Working Families Party primary, when she’s accused of identity theft in connection with casting an absentee ballot for someone who lived outside the U.S., according to court documents.
This person, who wasn’t identified in court documents, was registered to vote in Troy and Rensselaer County, where the city is located, about a 10-mile drive northeast of Albany, the state’s capital.
Then, in the local primary election, she illegally cast another absentee ballot for the same person, and a second person who also lived outside the U.S. but was a registered voter in Troy, according to court documents.
“It is important for the court to understand that Ms. McPherson is a community-leader, and self-less, and giving, and that those qualities stand in stark contrast to the crime she committed,” Chauvin wrote in a filing on McPherson’s behalf. “Her actions were an aberration, never to be committed again.”
Chauvin told McClatchy News that McPherson “has continued to find ways to serve her community by volunteering her time and efforts in local food pantries and community outreach organizations” and is “pleased to put this unfortunate matter behind her and move forward with her life in a positive way.”
According to Barnett, the former Rensselaer County elections commissioner, Jason Schofield, submitted fraudulent absentee ballots, including at least two in connection with requests from McPherson, in 2021, the Times Union newspaper reported.
In January 2023, Schofield pleaded guilty to a 12-count indictment in connection with using voters’ identities to apply for 12 absentee ballots, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His sentencing is set for Nov. 15, court records show.
Schofield’s defense attorney didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
At McPherson’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Mae D’Agostino said, “There comes a point in time in someone’s life when the desire for victory or the desire for power can really cause someone to lose their moral compass,” the Times Union reported.
“I think that is what happened here,” D’Agostino said of McPherson’s case, according to the newspaper.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Councilwoman cast absentee ballots using other voters’ names in New York, feds say."
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