Ex-Plainfield mayoral candidate admits voter fraud scheme

A former Plainfield mayoral candidate pleaded guilty this week to voter fraud, admitting he directed campaign workers to submit hundreds of fraudulent voter registration applications and personally delivered a large garbage bag containing nearly 1,000 forms to a Union County post office.

Dr. Henrilynn Ibezim was charged in October 2023 with election fraud, criminal attempt to commit false registration or transfer, tampering with public records, falsifying public records, forgery, and hindering apprehension or prosecution.  Under a plea deal with state prosecutors, the state agreed to dismiss four of the five counts against him and is recommending probation rather than jail.

Ibezim was challenging Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp in the 2021 Democratic primary.  He finished fourth with just 103 votes.

Prosecutors claim Ibezim showed up at the Elizabeth Post Office with voter registration forms that had the same handwriting.  They claimed Ibezim fabricated voter registration applications using individuals’ personal information without their consent and attempted to submit them as legitimate. Many of the forms appeared to be completed by just a handful of writers and failed to disclose, as required by law, that someone other than the named voter had filled them out.

“My office is determined to ensure elections are fair and that their outcomes are determined by the will of the voters,” said Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. “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.”

Superior Court Judge Candido Rodriguez, Jr. will sentence Ibezim on June 18.

The plea deal follows another tough blow to the embattled Office of Public Integrity and Accountability after a judge dismissed a voter fraud indictment against Paterson Councilman and mayoral candidate Alex Mendez nearly six years after he was charged.

Despite the bravado in its announcement of charges, it took the OPIA two and a half years to deliver what appears considerably less than its initial bravado.