>

A “not guilty” plea is not a “lie.”
Treating it as such effectively takes some of the burden away from the government to prove your guilt and thus undermines the presumption of innocence.  
In any event the whole point of a plea deal is a lesser sentence to avoid the cost of trial, “acceptance of responsibility” is already a factor in sentencing, and defendants who go to trial already face longer sentences.
In sum this idea is completely fucking stupid and the suggestion of someone without the slightest idea what they’re talking about.
In several cases, Schofield allegedly brought the ballots to those registered voters and had them sign absentee ballot envelopes without actually voting. That allowed Schofield or another person to cast votes in these voters’ names, according to the indictment.

For 12 votes. Were the elections that close? I'm thinking probably not. What an absolute moronic shitbag. I hope he gets the maximum penalty on every count. >

It depends on where in Rensselaer county, NY. Some of the urban areas are quite purple and the scales could tilt either way in local elections just by a few votes. Outside suburban areas, it gets conservative pretty quickly to the point that there are confederate flags waving in some houses and lawns - if you catch my drift. >

Yeah, drive 10 minutes north of Troy and the flags are all over the place. >

Kidding me, 10 minutes east of East Greenbush and you can start seeing them or Trump 2024 flags.
Let's never forget that obnoxious asshole on Route 4 with all of those signs and flags on his lawn either. I am not surprised someone got pissed enough to beat the shit out of that wooden sign he had - it's like being an actual asshole and inflammatory troll has consequences.
​
Edit:
Oh bonus, that dude on Route 4 looks like Tom Anderson from Beavis and Butthead. Came into Starbucks one day, several years back wearing literally the same shirt, shorts, and socks pulled up with similar glasses. >

Bah I forgot about that dude. Had the Obama in a wife beater sign, fuck that dude. Did you say he did get beat up or you are surprised he hasn't? >

He got one of his signs destroyed that was very inflammatory. >


Republican - 12 absentee ballot applications he submitted electronically to the New York State Voter Absentee Ballot Application Request Portal, - falsely certified that he was the voter requesting each of the absentee ballots. When Schofield was originally arraigned in September, his attorney said Schofield maintained he was innocent of the charges in the 12-count indictment.

I get lost after a while. Some of the offenders in these stories say, I was just testing the system this one just says not guilty. >

He lost his career because he wanted to add 12 ballot applications. 12. >

He got caught on 12. How many did he not get caught on? >

Yeah. It's frightening. He had no problems falsely submitting the first 11 of them... >

Oh yes, the "both sides" argument. Except one side hasn't consistently tried to subvert democracy at every turn because they aren't getting their way. Fake electors. Voter suppression. Insane gerrymandering and flagrant disregard for court orders. Floating laws to simply override the electorate if they "suspect" fraud. >

Yes, one of them is objectively "less bad" than the other. It's hard to get along with people who actively want to drag society back to the previous century. >

Make an example of this guy: maximum penalty 
It really is difficult to accept this asshat getting a slap o the wrist while a black woman mistakrnly voted and she gets 6 yrs for election fraud >

A former Republican county elections commissioner...
Sad. >

Imagine blowing an opportunity that you wanted as a kid because you wanted to change the voting results.
Yikes. >

Imagine what he would've thought of the adult version of him >

I'd really like to think that he'd be very disappointed. Maybe not though. >

I don't know, the only kids I knew that were into politics at a young age didn't exactly have the best morals. Anecdotal, obviously, but they generally were in love with the idea of power/influence, much less so the "helping people/improving things" part. >

Yeah you're right. He'd probably just be mad at his future self for being caught. >

"He faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and supervised released of up to three years for each count."
For reference, Crystal Mason, a black woman in Texas, got 5 years in real prison for simply casting a provisional ballot that was never counted. She wasn't sure if she was eligible, the poll workers said cast a provisional ballot. She did, and now she's in prison.
This guy better get at least 5 years. It should be 60 years. >

That the Texas justice system has harsher penalties than NY’s isn’t a surprise, though.  It’s kind of comparing apples and oranges here. >

Apples and oranges is right. She had no intention of committing voter fraud, and asked the poll workers what to do.
He *was* a poll worker, and used his position to intentionally try to fake a dozen votes.
He should get far more than she did. >

Yes, the “crimes” aren’t comparable, nor are the penalties.  Texas law is often more punitive and it’s juries less forgiving. >

Do you think it she was a white male republican she'd have gotten the same sentence?  (Hint:  she wouldn't have) >

No, nor do I think she’d have gotten the same sentence in NY.  That’s my point. >

I wonder if the tough-on-crime Republicans will push for the maximum sentence, 60 years and $3,000,000 fine, plus 36 years of supervised released. /s >

We should have a new mantra that if the charged person declares they are innocent and goes on a PR campaign then this should be considered at sentencing. 
If you did the crime and plead guilty straight away. You saved the govt’ expense and time and should get a break.   
These soft society crimes are without long term consequences. 
 Don’t get me started on businesses that accept no fault fines for their misdeeds.. >

Uh no let’s not get rid of the presumption of innocence or use a plea of “not guilty” (standard in the initial appearance in every single criminal case) against a defendant.  That would be batshit.
Defendants who plead guilty and spare the expense of trial already get lesser sentences.  That’s like, the whole point of plea bargaining. >

They didn't argue against the presumption of innocence. They argued for taking into consideration how hard you worked to lie at sentencing, which only takes place after you have been found guilty.