According to most Democrats and their media allies, election fraud is a non-existent issue and Republican legislative efforts to root out and combat such alleged fraud is an unnecessary solution in search of a problem that isn't real.

Yet, just last week, a former mayoral candidate in New Jersey was criminally indicted for allegedly submitting nearly 1,000 fraudulent voter registration forms during a Democratic primary election in 2021, MyCentralJersey.com reported.

Not only has the accused Democratic candidate, Dr. Henrilynn Ibezim, 70, been charged with multiple crimes related to his fraudulent efforts to win the mayorship of Plainfield, but he also faces multiple charges that stem from his attempts to cover up his criminal actions and obstruct an investigation.

Charged with election fraud, other crimes in 2021 mayoral race

On Friday, Democratic New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, in conjunction with the state's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, announced that a grand jury had handed down an eight-count criminal indictment against Ibezim for his alleged fraud during Plainfield's Democratic mayoral primary race in 2021.

He is alleged to have brought to a post office a garbage bag full of almost 1,000 fraudulent voter registration applications that he intended to submit to a county registrar.

Those fraudulent forms, which all appeared to feature the same handwriting of just three or four people, contained the personal identifying information of individuals who hadn't authorized that information to be shared and did not feature the requisite notification that the applications had been filled out by somebody other than the named individual.

Making matters worse for Ibezim are allegations that he attempted to obstruct an investigation of his actions by providing false statements to law enforcement as well as by instructing a witness to lie to investigators about what happened and not "admit anything" when questioned.

Eight-count indictment could result in decade or more behind bars if convicted

"As alleged, Dr. Henrilynn Ibezim attempted to tamper with the election process and then with the investigation into his tampering," AG Platkin said in a statement. "As the charges in this case demonstrate, if you attempt to interfere with the integrity of an election in New Jersey, you will be investigated and prosecuted."

Drew Skinner, the OPIA executive director, said, "We are committed to ensuring the integrity of the election process," and added, "Dr. Henrilynn Ibezim allegedly attempted to interfere with fair elections and a criminal investigation, and now faces serious charges for his conduct."

Those charges include second-degree election fraud and trafficking in another individual's personal identifying information; third-degree criminal attempt to commit false registration, tampering with public records, forgery, hindering apprehension or prosecution, and tampering with witnesses; and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.

If convicted, Ibezim could face sentencing of five to ten years in prison and $150,000 fines for the second-degree charges, three to five years in prison and $15,000 fines for the third-degree charges, and up to 18 months and a $10,000 fine for the fourth-degree charge.

First charged with election fraud last year

The grand jury indictment appears to formalize criminal charges that were first leveled against Ibezim in October 2023, according to a New Jersey Globe report at that time, which noted that the fraudulent scheme to submit 954 false voter registration applications would possibly have altered the Plainfield mayoral election if the plot had been successful.

Instead, Ibezim finished fourth in the Democratic primary with just over 100 votes total while the ultimate winner, Mayor Adrian Mapp, prevailed over the nearest other contender by less than 300 votes.

"The defendant allegedly resorted to fraud in an alleged attempt to unfairly prevail in this election," Tom Eicher, director of the OPIA, said at the time. "This desperate attempt to artificially and illegally inflate support for his candidacy was designed to not only cheat his political opponents out of a victory, but also to cheat the people of Plainfield out of their right to choose their elected officials."