Commissioner Bennie Smith was appointed to the Shelby County Tennessee Election Commission in April 2019. He works in analytics and innovation. Smith’s research is credited for uncovering an extraordinarily high-risk tampering mechanism and provides a new method for analyzing questionable election results. That research was part of a proof of concept he developed with Black Box Voting to examine election system vulnerabilities. It is the foundation for the AUDIT USA Ballot Image Project. The work was covered in a Bloomberg Cyber Security Segment. He was also profiled in a cover story by Bloomberg Businessweek for discovering election irregularities at a Memphis precinct. Smith operates Smartsoft, a consulting firm that provides software, analytics, process automation, corporate finance counsel, campaign strategy and demographic turnout analysis for individuals, fortune 50 enterprises, and political campaigns. He is known for his predictive analytics and proprietary method to forecast turnout and he has advised candidates in nearly every elected office in Shelby County. Smith’s research has been presented to election officials, elected officials and at security panels around the country.