Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union about the first person convicted in a federal grand jury investigation examining widespread ballot-fraud allegations in Rensselaer County. Republican Troy Councilperson Kim Ashe-McPherson admitted to fraudulently submitting absentee ballots in last year's primary and general elections. Ashe-McPherson, after she pleaded guilty to a felony criminal charge in U.S. District Court, could be sentenced to up to 12 months in jail for submitting three illegal absentee ballots. An FBI-led investigation has been examining the filing of absentee ballots in multiple elections over the past two years in Rensselaer County. There have been subpoenas issued for Jason Schofield, the Republican commissioner for the county's Board of Elections, and subpoenas requesting documents from the Rensselaer County Board of Elections. FBI agents also seized the mobile phones of county Operations Director Richard W. Crist and Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing. Both Crist and Gordon are political allies of county Executive Steve McLaughlin. Rensselaer County Republican leaders previously told the Times Union that they were unaware of any fraudulent activity by the party during the 2021 election. Read more about this story in the Times Union.