Ousted Georgia GOP exec who voted illegally says he didn’t know he was on probation

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Brian Pritchard, the ousted state Republican party leader who voted nine times illegally while making repeated claims of fraud in the 2020 election, said he was unaware he was still on probation when he cast ballots in Georgia.

“No one should ever vote illegally, you with me,” Pritchard said during an exclusive interview with Atlanta News First. “Anyone in America today, in all these states could possibly vote, unknowing they’re doing something. Anyone could.”

Pritchard, who was convicted on counts of forging checks in 1996, was given probation until 1999. It was then extended twice, according to court records, to last until 2011.

But Pritchard voted in nine Georgia primary, general and runoff elections between July 2008 and November 2010 all while on probation. In Georgia, it is illegal for people on felony probation to vote.

Pritchard claimed he never spoke to a probation officer and moved several times over the course of his probationary period. He removed himself from the voter rolls when he was alerted to his illegal voting in 2014, years after his probation had ended.

It sparked an investigation that ended in March, with Georgia Administrative Judge Lisa Boggs ruling that Pritchard’s claim of ignorance was neither “credible or convincing.”

“Even if the court accepts (Pritchard) did not know about his felony sentences, the record before this court demonstrates that he should have known,” Boggs wrote.

Court documents show Pritchard was present in Pennsylvania court in 2002 and 2004 at hearings where his probationary period was extended.

Calls for his resignation after the March decision poured in, even from some high-profile Republicans.

“Brian Pritchard must resign immediately,” said Georgia’s ultraconservative Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter. “At a time when the Georgia Republican Party is successfully building its effort to protect our state from a total Democratic takeover, it is unacceptable for our party to have a man in leadership who has repeatedly committed voter fraud himself.”

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Pritchard was elected to serve as the Georgia Republican Party’s first vice chairman last year and even served on the party’s election security task force.

On Friday, with over 80% of the party’s delegates voting for his removal, Pritchard was ousted from his leadership position.

“I don’t know how I can talk to you or others with any kind of authority on election integrity if I’m going to be defending someone who engaged in that pattern of conduct,” said Georgia GOP chairman Josh McKoon.

McKoon said Pritchard first made him aware of his voting issues last year, the same week Pritchard was elected first vice-chair.

“Last summer our discussion was look, I’ve been accused of these things, they’re not true, I’ve got a defense, give me an opportunity to present my defense in court,” said McKoon. “He told me he had a legitimate defense. If I’m guilty of anything, it’s believing Brian Pritchard.”

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