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Georgia Elections Officials Investigate Bay County Attorney

Panama City-based personal injury lawyer Bill Price explains his plan to move to Georgia and register to vote there at a Bay County GOP meeting that streamed live on Facebook on Nov. 7, 2020.
Panama City-based personal injury lawyer Bill Price explains his plan to move to Georgia and register to vote there at a Bay County GOP meeting that streamed live on Facebook on Nov. 7, 2020.

Georgia elections officials are investigating a Bay County attorney after he publicly announced plans last month to register to vote in the state even though he doesn’t actually intend to live there.

Personal injury lawyer Bill Price, who lives in Panama City Beach, explained his ultimate goal was to cast a ballot in the state's upcoming Senate runoff elections.

Last week, WFSU News first shed light on a Facebook live stream video in which Price told fellow GOP supporters that he intended to register to vote at his brother's address located in Hiram, a suburb of Atlanta. The video is no longer available on the local party's page.

Price explained to fellow Republicans at the local party headquarters in Panama City that he intended to switch his voter registration back to Florida after the Georgia runoff elections on Jan. 5.

"If I have to get a driver's license, I'm going to get a driver's license. I'm moving to Georgia, and I'm starting today,” Price said. “If they need mail, I’m going to have mail there. We are going to win back America. And we have to start in Georgia."

Bay County GOP Chairman Debbie Wood was at the meeting with Price. She later told WFSU News that she didn’t believe Price’s remarks were serious.

"He was on a high from you know just so much passion, so much commitment, and so much you know knowing-what-we’ve-got-to-do," Price said. “He backed down after he'd thought about what he'd really said. But that's OK. It shows that people, Trump supporters - true Trump supporters - are passionate about what they believe. And we might misspeak from time to time.”

But Atlanta-based ABC affiliate WSB-TV recently reported Price actually tried to register using his brother’s address.

In Georgia, registering to vote with the intent of leaving after the election is a felony offense. Anyone who’s convicted could face up to 10 years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has confirmed to multiple outlets that his office is investigating the video and Price’s attempt at registering to vote in the state.

Copyright 2020 WFSU. To see more, visit WFSU.

Valerie Crowder is a freelance reporter based in Panama City, Florida. Before moving to Florida, she covered politics and education for Public Radio East in New Bern, North Carolina. While at PRE, she was also a fill-in host during All Things Considered. She got her start in public radio at WAER-FM in Syracuse, New York, where she was a part-time reporter, assistant producer and host. She has a B.A. in newspaper online journalism and political science from Syracuse University. When she’s not reporting the news, she enjoys reading classic fiction and thrillers, hiking with members of the Florida Trail Association and doing yoga.
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