Opening statements were made in the trial of two democrats accused of ballot forgery in Troy. Our Lori Chung has been down at the Rensselaer County Courthouse all day and brings us the latest.

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TROY, N.Y. -- Two Democrats charged in the Troy voter fraud case head to trial today.

Former City Councilman Michael LoPorto and Rensselaer County Democratic Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough are the first indicted officials to be tried in this case.

This all began in the late summer of 2009, when they, and other Democrats, were accused of forging 50 absentee ballots in the 2009 Working Families primary. A special prosecutor was then assigned to the case, leading to their indictment last January.

McDonough will be tried on 38 counts of second-degree forgery and 36 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Forgery charges were recently dropped against LoPorto. He'll be tried on 29 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.

As for the six other Democrats implicated in the case, four have already pleaded guilty.

The other two involved are Council President Clem Campana and Council Member Gary Galuski. They've pleaded not guilty to charges and will likely be tried together.