A Republican official claimed that the 2020 election was plagued with voter fraud. Now a judge has ruled that he voted illegally 9 times

‘Even if the Court accepts he did not know about his felony sentences, the record before this Court demonstrates that he should have known,’ judge wrote

A Republican official in Georgia has been found by a judge to have voted illegally nine times even as he pushed former President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud in connection to the 2020 election.

The first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, Brian Pritchard, has been fined $5,000 for voting and registering to vote while serving a sentence for a felony.

Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs backed the State Election Board’s findings in a 25-page ruling on Wednesday, saying that Pritchard voted unlawfully nine times while under extended probation for felonies going back almost three decades.

Following an initial forgery conviction in Pennsylvania in 1996, his three-year probation was revoked thrice – when he moved to Georgia in 1999, as well as in 2002 and in 2004, when a judge set a new sentence of seven years of probation, meaning that Pritchard couldn’t vote in the state until 2011, according to NBC News.

But Pritchard filled out a voter registration form with the Gilmer County’s Board of Elections in 2008.

He also signed a statement saying he was “not serving a sentence for having been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude”.

In 2008, he cast four ballots in the primary and general elections, as well as runoffs – two years later, in 2010, he cast five ballots in primary, general, and special elections.

Pritchard, a conservative radio host, has testified that “he was not aware of anything that would have prevented him from registering to vote when he signed the application,” adding that he didn’t think three years remained on his probation, court filings reveal.

“Upon careful consideration of the evidence in its totality, the Court does not find the Respondent’s explanations credible or convincing,” Judge Boggs wrote. “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.”

Brian Pritchard has been found to have voted illegally after claiming voter fraud (Screenshot / YouTube / Brian Pritchard)

In a questionnaire that he filled out when running for first vice chair in 2023, she said he would attempt to “leverage the influence of the grassroots conservative movement to improve election integrity”.

Before assuming the post, he lost a special election for a seat in the state House.

In late December 2022, Pritchard rejected any notion that the voted illegally, writing, “The Georgia Secretary of State wants you to believe that I knowingly voted while serving a felony sentence. Never happened! I did vote every time they said, but never illegally”.

“For those who think a person charged with a felony can’t vote, wrong,” he added. “First, in the state of Pennsylvania, the only time you lose your voting rights is if you are incarcerated. Considering I have never spent a night in jail in my entire life…(can everyone say that) I never lost my voting rights in PA. Once your sentence has expired you can vote in the state of Georgia.”

In April 2022, Pritchard shared his doubts that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election legitimately.

“The button says ‘stolen,’” he said, pointing to a button on his microphone during a broadcast of his conservative programme. “This is what they did to us because I do not believe 81 million people voted for this guy.”