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Faces three years in state prison

A suspended data processor for the Essex County Superintendent of Elections pleaded guilty Wednesday to submitting fraudulent absentee ballots while working for the 2007 campaign of state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), state Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced.

Gianine Narvaez, 36, of Belleville, pleaded guilty to absentee ballot fraud and tampering with public records or information, both third-degree charges, before state Superior Court Judge Gerald J. Council in Trenton. The charges were contained in an Aug. 4, 2009 state grand jury indictment.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Narvaez be sentenced to three years in state prison, including a mandatory two-year term of parole ineligibility. She must forfeit her job and her public pension, and she will be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey. Narvaez was suspended from her county job without pay after she was indicted.

The charges stem from an investigation by the state Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Corruption Unit.

"This public employee used her access to county computers and records in an attempt to corrupt the election process," Dow said. "We will aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who fraudulently interferes with free and fair elections in New Jersey."

Ruiz has never been accused of wrong doing in the case, but nine other people, including her husband, Essex Freeholder Samuel Gonzalez, have been charged in five separate indictments for alleged election fraud in connection with absentee ballots they collected and submitted as workers for Ruiz's 2007 campaign for the state Senate. They are charged with various offenses for allegedly tampering with documentation for messenger ballots and fraudulently submitting such ballots as votes in the Nov. 6, 2007 general election. Those charges are pending.

In pleading guilty, Narvaez admitted that she tampered with absentee ballots and voted absentee ballots on behalf of voters who did not receive the ballots or authorize her to vote them.

The investigation revealed that Narvaez engaged in two schemes involving fraudulent absentee ballots in the 2007 races in the 29th Legislative District. In the first scheme, Narvaez fraudulently completed applications for absentee ballots in the names of nine real voters. She subsequently completed absentee ballots and submitted them to the board of elections as votes on behalf of the voters who, in fact, never received or voted the ballots.

The investigation revealed that, in the second scheme, Narvaez used her access to absentee ballots and the computer system in the county elections office to add 10 fictitious voters to the county voting rolls, generate absentee ballots for them, and vote the ballots. After the November election, she removed the fictitious names from the voting rolls.

"Voter fraud is a serious crime that undermines public confidence in the election process," said state Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor. "We will continue to investigate any allegations of election tampering in New Jersey and will follow the evidence wherever it leads us, as we are doing in this ongoing investigation."

At the time of the election, messenger ballots were only for voters homebound due to illness, infirmity or disability. They can complete an application designating a messenger or bearer who is a family member or a registered voter in a county. The bearer is authorized to obtain an absentee ballot from a county board of elections, take it to the voter, and return a completed ballot to the board. New rules regarding such ballots have since been adopted.

Deputy Attorney General Vincent J. Militello and Assistant Prosecutor Brandon Minde are prosecuting the Narvaez case. Judge Council scheduled sentencing for Narvaez for June 2.

The investigation was led for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau by Militello, Deputy Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn, Sgt. James Scott and Sgt. Lisa Shea. It was conducted for the Essex prosecutor's office by Assistant Prosecutor Minde, Det. David Sanabria and Det. Elizabeth Bazan.

In a separate case investigated by the Division of Criminal Justice and Essex prosecutor's office, Essex Superintendent of Elections Carmine Casciano was charged on Jan. 8 with official misconduct for allegedly giving unauthorized paid days off to county employees who worked on political campaigns. That charge is pending.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM