Ex-Mayoral Candidate In Union County Pleads Guilty In Voter Registration Fraud Case

PLAINFIELD, NJ — A former mayoral candidate in Plainfield has pleaded guilty after trying to file about 1,000 falsified voter registration applications before a 2021 city election, said New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport.

Henrilynn Ibezim, 71, of Plainfield, pleaded guilty on April 27 to count five of the indictment, which charged one count of third-degree forgery.

The plea agreement with the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability calls for the state to dismiss the remaining counts in the indictment. The state also agreed not to prosecute Ibezim for any other disclosed criminal violations arising out of his conduct during the Democratic primary for mayor in June 2021.

Prosecutors will recommend that Ibezim be sentenced to probation at the court sentencing on June 18.

Authorities said Ibezim allegedly brought a garbage bag containing around 1,000 falsified voter registration applications to an Elizabeth post office, intending to mail the documents to the Union County Commissioner of Registration.

Ibezim created and attempted to submit false voter registration applications containing the personal identifying information of people without their authorization. Additionally, many of the applications had the handwriting of only three or four writers, said Davenport.

The applications also did not state, as required, that they were completed by anyone other than the voter for whom the application was purportedly submitted, according to Davenport.

Davenport said the case goes to public trust in elections.

"My office is determined to ensure elections are fair and that their outcomes are determined by the will of the voters," she said. "It is crucial to our system of government that those who engage in illegal and bad-faith conduct during elections be held accountable. Failing to do so opens the door to a loss of public confidence in the democratic process."

The case now moves to sentencing in Union County Superior Court, where the court will decide whether to accept the recommended term of probation on June 18.

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