Brian Pritchard, a Georgia Republican Party official, has been found guilty of unlawfully voting nine times over the course of several years. Pritchard has erroneously claimed that Democrats stole the 2020 election through fraud.
Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs ruled on Wednesday that Pritchard, the Georgia GOP’s first vice chairman, broke state election laws by voting while on probation for forgery and other felonies and that his excuses were not “credible or convincing.”
Pritchard must pay a $5,000 fine and $375.14 in court-ordered investigative fees. Boggs also directed that Pritchard “be publicly reprimanded for his conduct” by the State Election Board, which was seeking sanctions against him.
On Thursday, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene demanded that Pritchard “resign immediately or be removed” from his Georgia GOP position since he “voted ILLEGALLY nine times while serving out his probation for FELONY check forgery.”
“The Republican Party is the party of election integrity,” Greene stated on X, formerly Twitter, adding that “our state party should be the leading voice in securing our elections.”
Forged checks and allegations of a rigged election
Pritchard, a conservative talk show personality, said on his FetchYourNews.com show that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, repeating charges made by former President Donald Trump, who lost in Georgia and nationally to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and 14 co-defendants are currently facing charges in Georgia for illegally plotting to alter the election results, with four co-defendants pleading guilty.
Investigations have continuously revealed no indication of mass fraud in 2020. However, Boggs determined in her 25-page decision that Pritchard committed voter fraud on his own.
Boggs referenced official records from an Allegheny County, Pennsylvania court, indicating that Pritchard pled guilty in 1996 to felony fraud and theft involving $38,000 in falsified cheques related to a construction project and was forced to pay the same amount in restitution. In Georgia, felons lose their voting rights until they finish their probation or release.
Evidence submitted in court by two senior officials from the state attorney general’s office stated that Pritchard’s probation was extended until 2011, yet he registered to vote in 2008 and voted in nine elections between then and 2010.
Pritchard stated at an evidence hearing in February that he did not willfully commit fraud and that he thought his status as a criminal ineligible to vote had expired more than two decades ago. He also stated that he felt his criminal sentence had been changed into a civil judgment, according to a copy of Boggs’ decision.
In a previous procedure before the State Election Board, which sent Pritchard’s case to the Georgia attorney general’s office for inquiry, his attorney stated that Pritchard was unaware he was a criminal when he registered and voted in Georgia.
“He should have known.”
The judge rejected Pritchard’s explanations, citing his experience as a businessman handling complex projects and million-dollar contracts.
“Based on the above, and upon careful consideration of the evidence in its totality the Court does not find the explanations credible or convincing,” Boggs stated in his opinion. “At the very least, even if the Court accepts he did not know about his felony sentences, the record before this Court demonstrates that he should have known.”
Pritchard’s penalties is $500 for each of the nine times he voted unlawfully, plus another $500 for fraudulently registering to vote in 2008. He has the right to appeal the verdict.
Pritchard and his lawyer, George Weaver Jr., could not be reached for quick comment.
‘I have done nothing wrong here.’
Pritchard was adamant about his voting record in December 2022, when he qualified to run in a special election for the state House seat previously held by Speaker David Ralston, who died the previous month.
“I’ve not done anything wrong here,” Pritchard stated at the time, claiming that his term had expired and his rights had been restored, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I guess if you’re apprehending public enemy No. 1, here I am.”
Pritchard claimed on his show that the 2020 presidential election had been “stolen,” according to the Atlanta tabloid. According to the report, he also accused Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican Attorney General Chris Carr of being “complicit” in Biden’s victory in Georgia.
“I do not believe that 81 million people voted for this guy,” Pritchard remarked on his show.
Jason Shepherd, a former vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, told USA TODAY that the judge’s finding is ironic given Pritchard’s ongoing allegations of election fraud.
Mr. Pritchard, according to him, “has rapidly risen in the ranks of the Georgia Republican Party and has built a media empire of literally tens of dozens of followers by spouting conspiracy theories about stolen elections and rampant voter fraud from thousands of illegal voters, despite being investigated himself for illegally voting.”
Shephard, who publishes the Peach Pundit political column, stated that the allegations of Pritchard’s voter fraud “have been well known long before he became the second highest officer in the Georgia Republican Party.”
“He should have never been elected and he has now needs to go…and sooner rather than later,” Shephard said in a statement. “If (Georgia GOP) Chairman Josh McKoon doesn’t have a resignation by the end of the day, I don’t see how anyone can take the Georgia Republican Party seriously.”