Former NJ mayoral candidate pleads to faking 1,000 voter registrations in 2021

A former candidate for mayor of Plainfield, New Jersey, has plead guilty to charges involved after he attempted to file numerous fraudulent voter registrations in connection with his run for office in June of 2021.

According to New Jersey officials, Henrilynn Ibezim, 71, of Plainfield, pleaded — on April 27, 2026 — to a five count indictment against him that charged him with forgery.

Officials said the charges against Ibezim came after he brought a garbage bag containing approximately 1,000 falsified voter registration applications to an Elizabeth, New Jersey post office, intending to mail the documents to the Union County Commissioner of Registration.

With this plea, Ibezim admitted that, during the Democratic primary for mayor in June 2021, he created and attempted to submit the false voter registration applications, officials said, that contained the personal identifying information of individuals without their authorization.

Many of the applications had the handwriting of only three or four writers and, officials said, the applications did not state, as required, that they were completed by anyone other than the voter for whom the application was purportedly submitted.

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

In a statement, officials said that prosecutors will recommend that Ibezim be sentenced to a term of probation to be set by the court at sentencing, which is scheduled for June 18, 2026.