In his latest story on the Clackamas ballot-tampering case, the O's Jeff Mapes uncovers a critical nugget of information:

Secretary of State Kate Brown said Friday that the Justice Department is continuing to investigate the case and that she expects an indictment "within the next two or three weeks." She also said it's possible more than one person will be indicted.

That's right: It seems that investigators are digging in seriously to the idea that Deanna Swenson may not have acted alone in allegedly tampering with ballots.

And of course, where there are two or more people acting together, you've got something much more serious - a planned conspiracy to commit fraud, rather than a single person overcome in a moment of ideological fervor.