Rift within Georgia GOP intensifies as vice chair refuses to resign for voting illegally

Georgia Republican Party vice chairman Brian Pritchard is steadfastly refusing calls to resign from his post despite a finding that he illegally voted nine times.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reported Wednesday that Georgia GOP chairman Josh McKoon asked Pritchard to step down as the party's #2 official following a judge's administrative ruling that he voted nine times since 2008 despite being on probation for felony check forgery. While Pritchard won't be jailed for the offense, he was fined $5,000 and will face an unspecified "reprimand," according to the AJC. However, Pritchard has yet to resign, and indicated he plans to stay in his position.

McKoon said Pritchard's refusal to step down distracts from his two top priorities as the Georgia Republican Party's chief executive — electing former President Donald Trump to a second term, and ending Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' prosecution of the ex-president and more than a dozen co-defendants.

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"The judicial finding that our First Vice Chairman registered to vote illegally and voted illegally nine times makes it harder to accomplish both of these goals," McKoon told the AJC. "His resignation will allow us to focus all of our time, attention and resources on electing President Trump and ending the evil Willis prosecution."

Under Georgia law, Pritchard's voting rights were stripped after he pleaded guilty to felony check forgery in 1996. The AJC reported that while Pritchard was working a construction job in Pennsylvania, he illegally deposited $38,000 worth of bad checks. He testified in 1999 that he was under the impression that his sentence ended that year, but prosecutors maintained that his probation had been extended through 2011. Pritchard registered to vote in 2008 and has since cast ballots on nine separate occasions.

Pritchard defended his refusal to step down to the AJC, telling the publication that he gave "full transparency" to party leadership about his past when he was elected to his position in 2023.

"I haven’t broken the rules, I didn’t mislead the leadership," Pritchard said. "If they felt something needed to be done, they haven’t let me know."

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In addition to McKoon, other high-profile Georgia Republicans are also calling for Pritchard's resignation. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) demanded Pritchard remove himself from the Peach State's GOP leadership after the administrative ruling was handed down.

"Our state party should be the leading voice on securing our elections,” Greene said. “It is unacceptable for our party to have a man in leadership who has repeatedly committed voter fraud himself.”

If Pritchard doesn't voluntarily step down, then under Georgia GOP bylaws, a hearing will be scheduled with at least 32 days notice. Then, it will take a two-thirds majority vote by the party's state committee to officially boot him from his role.

Georgia remains one of the most hotly contested battleground states. President Joe Biden flipped the state blue in 2020, winning its 16 electoral votes with less than 12,000 votes across all of Georgia's 159 counties. And after Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) defeated former NFL player Herschel Walker in 2022, Democrats have both of the Peach State's US senate seats. Warnock's win made Georgia a blue state with two Democratic senators for the first time in decades.

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