Parry Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper Bert S. Goldfinger, a Columbia County resident with a home in New York City, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct June 25 in Ghent Town Court. Goldfinger entered the plea after being charged with two felonies for submitting a false document and voting twice in the 2013 general election. The felony complaints, filed by the State Police, say that Goldfinger sent an absentee ballot to the Columbia County Board of Elections on November 1 and then voted November 3 in person in New York City. Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka [Ch-EYE-kah], who was present for the plea, said he does not know how often multiple voting happens in the county. He added that he hopes this case might help deter others from attempting it in the future. Goldfinger’s lawyer, Michael P. McDermott, said the double voting happened at a time when his client was changing his legal residence and his voter registration from Manhattan to Ghent. The voting happened in an off-year election, McDermott said, and the two ballots cast had no candidates in common. He called the case a “technical violation” with “no malicious or criminal intent.” Goldfinger was sentenced to a fine and surcharge of $225 plus 20 days community service by Justice Mark Portin. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.