Georgia Official Who Alleged Election Fraud Voted Illegally

A Georgia Republican Party official who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen himself voted illegally nine times. Brian Pritchard, first vice chairman of the Georgia GOP, violated state election laws by voting while on probation. His explanations for doing so were neither "credible or convincing," Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs ruled Wednesday, per USA Today. Back in 1996, Pritchard was sentenced to three years' probation for forging checks in Pennsylvania. After he moved to Georgia, his probation was revoked in 1999, in 2002 and again in 2004, when a judge imposed a new seven-year probationary sentence, per the Washington Post. As felons in Georgia can only vote once their probation or parole is complete, Pritchard was unable to vote in the state until 2011.

Yet on a 2008 voter registration form, Pritchard affirmed he was "not serving a sentence for having been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude." He voted illegally in four Georgia primary and general elections in 2008 and five special, primary, and general elections in 2010, per the Post. The conservative talk show host and owner of political news site FetchYourNews.com, who echoed former President Trump's false claims of election fraud and accused Georgia election officials of being "complicit," claimed he thought his sentence wrapped up in 1999 and that his criminal sentence was converted to a civil judgment. "Do you think the first time I voted, I said, 'Oh, I got away with it. Let's do it eight more times?'" he said, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Boggs said Pritchard's "self-described experience as a businessman handling complex projects as well as million-dollar contracts and budgets" made it hard to accept his claim that his "grasp of legal proceedings was so unsophisticated that he did not understand the basic terms of his probation," per USA Today. She ordered Pritchard to pay a $5,000 fine—$500 for each time he voted illegally, plus $500 for illegally registering to vote—and $375 in investigative costs. He will also be publicly reprimanded by the State Election Board. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fellow Republican, called Thursday for him to "resign immediately or be removed." "Our state party should be the leading voice on securing our elections," she wrote on X. (More voter fraud stories.)