Voting fraud in Troy, seven candidates hope to fill the vacant seat

Widespread ballot-fraud in Rensselaer County is being investigated by a federal grand jury.

Troy Councilwoman, Kim McPherson was the first convicted. She resigned on June 9th after pleading guilty to identity theft and casting absentee ballots using the name of another person during last year’s election.

Since her resignation, the mayor and city council members have been at odds over how to fill her seat.

For some members of the community, fiilling the seat should have been easy. Many felt it would make sense to just appoint the runner-up, Steven Figuero.

Troy Council President Carmella Mantella says they wanted to take time to offer transparency. "I felt, and my two colleagues felt it was very important to hear to hear from the people in district 2," said Mantella.

However, the trust is gone for some of those who attended tonight’s meeting. ”There is a special seat that needs to be appointed and the four individuals have already said all of this is a waste of time residence deserve way more than this," said Jerry Ford, VP of Troy NAACP.

Mayor Madden says he’d like to fill the seat so they could focus on issues important to the community.