This week, a judge said that a high-ranking official in the Georgia Republican Party has voted illegally more than once. This official has supported former President Donald Trump’s claims that widespread voter fraud will affect the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Brian Pritchard, a conservative talk show host and first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, was fined $5,000 for voting without a license and registering to vote while he was in prison for a crime. Pritchard was also told not to break the rules again, that he would be reprimanded in public for his behavior, and that he would have to pay the State Election Board’s costs of investigating.
Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs upheld the board’s decision that Pritchard had voted illegally nine times, breaking the terms of his extended probation for two felony charges that happened almost 30 years ago. Her decision was written in 25 pages and was made public on Wednesday.
- California RESIDENTS To RECEIVE $500 MONTHLY PAYMENTS In New Guaranteed Income Program: Here Is Who Is Eligible
- Us Job Market Booms With 272,000 New Jobs, But Unemployment Rises Slightly To 4.0%
- Credit Scores Of 720+ See Improved Loan Rates This Week
- Examining The Facts: Fact Check On IRS $8700 Stimulus Check Eligibility & Payment Dates
- Gas Prices On Downward Trend As Fourth Of July Road Trips Approach: AAA
According to the decision, Pritchard was first given three years of probation in 1996 for felony forgery charges in Pennsylvania.
It was taken away three times from Pritchard: first, when he went to Georgia in 1999; then, again in 2002 and 2004. In 2004, a judge gave Pritchard a new seven-year probationary term. Until 2011, he could not vote in the state.
Before he could vote in 2008, Pritchard registered to vote with Gilmer County’s Board of Elections and swore that he was “not serving a sentence for having been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude.” Pritchard voted in many elections in Georgia. In 2008, he did so in four primary, general, and runoff elections, and in 2010, he did so in five more, including special elections, primaries, and the general election.
According to court records, Pritchard said in court that “he did not know of anything that would have stopped him from registering to vote when he signed the application” and that he did not think that his three years of probation were still active.
Boggs said in his decision on Wednesday that “the Court does not find the Respondent’s explanations credible or convincing after careful consideration of the evidence in its entirety.” The record shows that he should have known about his felony terms, even if the Court agrees that he didn’t know about them.