ALBANY — The controversial, ACORN-connected Working Families Party and local Democrats are under investigation by a special prosecutor after a rash of allegedly forged absentee ballots and ballot applications were filed on behalf of candidates in the shadow of the state Capitol, officials said yesterday.

A judge in Troy named Rensselaer County’s former chief assistant district attorney, Trey Smith, as the special prosecutor Monday after the DA, a Democrat, recused himself from the case.

Republicans in Troy, where the fraud is said to have taken place, are calling for a federal probe.

The fraud allegations focus on claims by several public-housing residents that their names were forged on absentee-ballot applications, as well as on ballots filed on behalf of WFP candidates in the Sept. 8 primary.