A slow day on the grand jury front today with a bunch of employees from the Board of Elections and the Troy City Clerks office testifying.


Probably pretty boring stuff though we're sure the grand jurors got an ear full of how the whole election process works, and in particular how it applies to absentee ballots.

Safe to say, the way the Democrats did it in the 2009 Working Families Party primary is not how it was meant to work.

Here's a run down about what is legal and what isn't:

An application for an absentee ballot can be released to anyone on any voter's behalf at the request of the voter. The voter has to sign the application in his or her own hand - imagine that - but anyone can fill in the other stuff, like the reason the voter couldn't make it to the polls. Of course signing the voters name to get the application is a no-no but filling out the extraneous information is not a problem, provided it is done in good faith. If it isn't, it's a problem.

The ballot is a different story. It can only be filled out by the voter, signed by the voter and the envelope can only presumably be licked by the voter. That's where the DNA sample given by the nine Democrats implicated in the scandal comes in.

The problem the Dems have, according to the statements given to the State Police by the alleged defrauded voters, is the Dems just took a pen to everything - including the signatures.

Given the 300 hours Trey Smith, the special prosecutor with a reputation for being thorough, put in and the fact State Police investigators are also involved, odds are the Democrats took a pen to things they should not have.

There are likely two indictments coming in a hurry, that of Councilman Michael LoPorto and Democratic Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough, who the grand jury is hearing evidence against now. We just don't think Smith would be doing what he's doing if he weren't confident he could indict. As the saying goes, anyone can indict a ham sandwich.

Friday is an off day, as far as we know, but the grand jury will pick up again next week, as far as we know. We'll continue to fill you in, as far as we know.