After 31 years in elections, Election Director Stuart Harvey will retire, effective September 1, 2021.
“It’s been a long and fascinating career, but now it’s time to take a moment and see what’s next on the horizon”, says Harvey.
When he began in May 1990 in Montgomery County, voters still used punch cards to cast their ballots. Office computers were in their infancy, and email and the internet were not yet a reality. Communication devices, besides the office phones, consisted of pagers and fax machines.
Upon his appointment by the Frederick County Board of Elections in July 2002, one of his first actions was making sure elections returns were posted on the county’s web site, starting with the September 2002 primary election.
Here are some of the major changes that have occurred in Maryland elections during Mr. Harvey’s tenure. These innovations began right after the disputed 2000 presidential election, and continue to this day.
- Provisional voting (2002)
- Statewide voter registration system (2005)
- Electronic pollbooks (2006)
- Early voting (2010)
- Electronic campaign finance system (2011)
- Optical scan voting and ballot making devices (2016)
- Vote By Mail election (2020)
- Permanent absentee voting (coming in 2022)
“There are so many things to reflect on, and I am extremely grateful to my Board for the consistent support they have given me and the election office staff for the past 19 years”, he noted.
Ms. Barbara Wagner will start as the Interim Election Director on July 7. She has worked with the elections office during the 2018 and 2020 elections. Her resume is attached.
The Frederick County Board of Elections is responsible for hiring the new election director.
Mr. Harvey begins his leave on July 8.