Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Help Me FIght Election Crime

I am announcing my application to the Republican Senators and Representatives of the Shelby Delegation to be appointed to the Shelby County Election Commission. Personally, I don’t believe the Election Commission should be a partisan commission, but it is what it is. In a perfect world, people would step up and do the right thing, irrespective of any factors other than doing what is right.

If appointed to the election commission, I pledge to make every effort to ensure the right thing gets done, without regard to party. Many of you may know about some of the things I’ve been involved in with the election commission, starting with finding the felonious voters, non-resident voters and finally the deceased voters in the Terry Roland v Ophelia Ford race a few years ago. I have also worked with the Commercial Appeal and other news agencies to get the information before the public, after finding improprieties with the voting process. Finally, I have been analyzing the voter database and for several years, cross checking it against the Social Security Death Index by using a program I wrote. I’ve also uncovered several people who appear to have voted more than once, and many other irregularities, then reported them to the news, and the administrator of elections. I have never gotten a reply from the administrator, and to my knowledge, neither has the news media.

I believe I am uniquely qualified to be a member of the Election Commission because of my background in computers, databases, and my 31 plus years in law enforcement, not to mention my history with the voter database and the EC. I retired from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office a couple of years ago as a Lieutenant, field commander, in the Fugitive Bureau. I also worked the detective bureau and most other areas of the department as well as the Attorney General’s office for six years, as a criminal investigator. I started the MIS bureau at the SCSO (Management Information Systems), headed the Research and Development bureau and worked for several years in the Information Systems bureau. While working in the IS bureau, Microsoft did a case study on my (W.A.S.P.) program - touting the cost savings and efficiency of the program. I also developed the jail website, the warrant website and the A.L.E.R.T. program, which has achieved national acclaim.

I understand the position is paid $1,000.00 per month which, if appointed, I pledge to donate to charity. I am not in this to make money, just to make a difference. I appreciate your consideration in this matter.

Please join the group at Facebook and let the members of the Shelby Delegation know your feelings.


Sincerely,

John Harvey

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having ten years experience, at least, watching republicans do everything in their power to deprive people of their right to vote and then, to those who they couldn't actually prevent voting, work so hard (even suing in many instances) to make sure votes are NOT counted, I dont believe it's a good idea for Shelby County, or any place in America where the citizens which to hold fair and honest elections, to allow you or any other self-admitted republican to be in any position of authority over how elections can or should be run.

You, perhaps, may be an exception. If you are an exception, you mention various times you have contacted the media about alleged voting irregularities. Can you please direct your readers to one blog post, or published article in any local media, where you have disavowed the efforts of Republicans, from Florida, to Ohio, to Minnesota and thousands of towns, precincts and states, combined, in between? Perhaps if you can point me toward one word of criticism of your party's election-stealing schemes i could make an exception and support your bid.

I anxiously await your reply

John Harvey said...

Thank you anonymous for your bold and courageous comments, from beneath the veil of anonymity.

I have not concerned myself with national elections because I have been focused on local issues. I have spoken out on the issue when it was good for Republican and when it wasn't. During Terry Roland's race, I caused all the uproar because of what I uncovered. I also caused an uproar, and lawsuits when Shep Wilbun sued the EC over his election results. I found people who had voted, yet didn't live in the county.

I haven't seen any Republicans in our local races who have tried to deny legitimate votes. I have seen this from the democrats, especially the members of the EC who are democrats. They have refused to purge the database of dead voters, voters who haven't voted during the previous 2 presidential elections, voters who don't live in the district, etc.

My objective is to have fair elections. As for denying voters, there is a process for allowing provisional ballots that has been in place forever, and that is an option for those who are not on the rolls. Their vote can count, provided they show adequate identification.

For Shelby County, your argument is specious.

Hemant Gupta said...

I don't think that on a local level republican and democrat distinction matters. Locally, neither party follows the national trend. For example, overall democrats in Memphis are opposed to gay marriage. Nationally, I vote democrat, but I always vote what is best for Memphis locally.

Regardless, I am glad to see you run for this spot. Your database skills and your integrity are impressive. I hope its just a stepping stone to another position.

John Harvey said...

Thanks for the compliment Herman. I don't aspire to any office. I love what I do, and I wouldn't ask to be appointed to this position, if I felt there were competent people already on board, who were not afraid to speak out WHEN things are not being done as they should be. I'm not afraid to go against the crowd, and my history idicates the same. As proof of my position on this, I have offered to give whatever salary the position brings to charity.

I think we need more people serving on such boards, as a volunteer. Now, these days, many volunteers are paid volunteers, which means they are not volunteers, but paid staff. I am volunteering for this position, you might say.

Anonymous said...

I don't live in Memphis, but I wish you good luck. I want the elections to be FAIR, no matter who wins. That's one of the things that is supposed to make the USA different than a lot of other countries.

As for the first comment, I'm old enough to remember vacant lots with over 300 people living on them voting for JFK in Chicago. Thanks Mayor Daley. While living in Texas, I talked with people who were upset that they helped dead people vote for LBJ, several times. They said he did things in DC that they didn't like. So, it's not just Republicans who supposedly tried to keep votes from counting.

Again, I say that EVERY person who is eligible to vote should vote in a FAIR election.

Good luck.
Lurker