The Georgia Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Friday to oust First Vice Chairman Brian K. Pritchard from his leadership position after a judge ruled he voted illegally nine times while serving probation for a felony check forgery sentence.
The decision by 86% of the Republican Party’s state committee removes Pritchard, a conservative online radio host, ahead of this year’s presidential election as the party tries to emphasize election security.
“Today’s vote demonstrates how serious we take election integrity,” Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon said. “We look forward to getting back to the business of the Georgia Republican Party.”
The judge’s finding of election violations by a high-ranking Republican brought accusations of hypocrisy from Democrats, but Pritchard has said he didn’t break any party rules and was transparent about his past.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Pritchard didn’t respond to messages seeking comment Friday. He has previously said he believed his sentence was completed.
Pritchard often repeats false claims that Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, saying on his show that the election was fraudulent.
The results have been upheld by recounts, court cases and investigations in the 3½ years since. The State Election Board reprimanded Fulton County this week for double-scanning ballots during a recount, but state election officials said the results remained correct.
An administrative law judge in March ordered Pritchard to pay a $5,000 fine and receive a public reprimand for violating state election laws.
Pritchard voted in nine elections from 2008 to 2010 while he was still on probation for a felony sentence that dated to a guilty plea in 1996 to forgery and theft charges involving $38,000 in checks he deposited while working on a construction job, according to court records from Alleghany County, Pennsylvania.
The courts repeatedly revoked and extended his probation until 2011, but Pritchard testified during a February hearing that he thought his sentence had ended in 1999.
Pritchard refused to resign from his role with the party, forcing a hearing Friday that required a two-thirds majority of the state committee to remove him.
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