Ballot fraud charges have landed on former Lumberton Township Mayor Gina LaPlaca and her husband, Jason Carty, after prosecutors said false signatures appeared on her Democratic primary nominating petition in New Jersey. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced the case on Tuesday, adding another legal problem for LaPlaca, who already pleaded guilty this year in a drunken-driving case involving her child.
LaPlaca, 47, was charged with making a false statement under oath, knowingly filing a false petition, tampering with public records, and falsifying or tampering with records. Carty, 49, was charged with knowingly filing a false petition, tampering with public records, and falsifying or tampering with records. Prosecutors said the petition filed with the Lumberton Township Municipal Clerk included an affidavit signed by LaPlaca stating that she personally circulated the petition and that every signer had written his or her own name by hand. Investigators later concluded that multiple people whose names and signatures appeared on the petition said they had not signed it or authorized anyone else to sign for them.
According to the prosecutor’s office, LaPlaca and Carty gathered signatures for the petition themselves. Officials also said the allegedly fraudulent names mattered because, without them, the petition would not have had enough valid support to qualify LaPlaca for the June 2026 Democratic primary for Lumberton Township Committee. The two are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 21 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
LaPlaca’s political role has already shifted. She served as Lumberton’s mayor from 2021 to 2025 and remains on the township committee, although her current term ends at the close of this year. She ran for re-election in the June Democratic primary for two open seats but finished third behind Mayor Terrance Benson and his running mate, Kendra Hatfield. The new charges now place her campaign conduct under a separate criminal review, apart from the election result itself.
