Prosecutors say Smith cast fraudulent absentee ballots “in multiple elections in 2009 and 2010” and other government officials participated in the scheme, which the FBI says was the subject of a two-year investigation.
The Boston Herald reports that Democrat State Rep. Stephen Smith, a member of the Joint Committee on Election Laws, “has agreed to plead guilty to voter fraud charges stemming from an absentee ballot scheme in 2009 and 2010 and to resign from the Legislature.”
Eric Holder recently suggested that voter fraud rarely occurs, “because few people are willing to risk felony charges to influence an election.” Smith was certainly willing to take the risk, and his charges turned out to be just two misdemeanor counts and a five-year moratorium on seeking public office.