A total of 35 cases of election-law violations were referred for prosecution by the State Election Board last week. A local man was among them.
Brian Keith Pritchard, of Cherry Log, had his case of allegedly voting while serving a felony sentence referred to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution, according to a release from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
“Election fraud is not tolerated in Georgia. When there is evidence of it, the people responsible face prosecution,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, chairman of the five-member board. “Georgia has multiple safeguards in place that allow our team of investigators to discover fraudulent voting. They worked to catch the wrongdoing in these cases, and they maintain the security of Georgia elections.”
Pritchard’s case was one of four incidents of felons voting or registering to vote, according to the release.
Documents from the Secretary of State’s office list the case as being opened May 11, 2016, and closed Sept. 14, 2016.
Pritchard’s hearing before the board was continued twice, once Dec. 17, 2019, and again Sept. 10, 2020.
The release included information about the most noteworthy cases out of the 35 referrals:
﹣ The New Georgia Project which allegedly submitted 1,268 voter registration applications after the 10-day deadline, causing voters to be disenfranchised in the March 19, 2019, special election.
﹣ Samunta Shomine Pittman, of Atlanta, for allegedly submitting 70 false voter registration applications while canvassing for the Coalition for the People’s Agenda.
﹣ Floyd Jones and the Fayette County Board of Elections and Voter Registration where he was director at the time for alleged improper handling of four memory cards registering 2,760 votes in the Nov. 3, 2020, general election.
﹣ Joseph Lee Blackmon of Atlanta for allegedly registering to vote while serving a felony sentence.
﹣ Hassan Dawud Musaddiq, of Decatur, for allegedly voting while serving a felony sentence.
﹣ Michael M. Ware of Columbus for allegedly voting while serving a felony sentence.
﹣ Brian Keith Pritchard, of Cherry Log, for allegedly voting while serving a felony sentence.
﹣ Talibah Fagueera Fatimah Bint Abdul Hamid Bratton, of Lilburn, for allegedly submitting a false voter registration application.
﹣ Sharmaine Swift, of Lithonia, for allegedly submitting a false voter registration application.
﹣ Sophia Sharpe, of Valdosta, for allegedly voting in another person’s name.
﹣ Albert Niks, of Winder, for allegedly voting as a noncitizen.
﹣ Sean Watson, of Covington, for allegedly voting as a noncitizen.
﹣ Clifton Seymour Salmon, of Fairburn, for allegedly registering to vote as a noncitizen.
﹣ Hurlstone Hendy, of Locust Grove, for allegedly voting as a noncitizen.
Further details about the case from the Attorney General were not available at press time.