“When you don’t vote you leave decisions that affect you up to those who do.” Secretary of State Tre Hargett was the featured speaker at the Old Hickory Rotary Club on Monday, emphasizing that Tennessee is at the bottom of the list in terms of voter registration and voter participation. One of his concerns is apathy among young people. Hargett says young voters don’t seem to grasp what impact decisions made in government today will have on their future and stresses the importance of young people “building civic muscle and getting engaged in elections.”

Older voters tend to believe their vote doesn’t matter. Hargett cites a number of local and state elections that have been determined by one or only a handful of votes to try to dispel that line of thinking.

Some voters have grown to distrust the election process altogether. Hargett says candidates who suggest irregularities in the voting process while campaigning only help to fuel skepticism among potential voters and the United States can be viewed by other countries as not trusting its own government.

The Secretary of State believes an individual votes because there is a candidate or idea that they’re very passionate about or because a friend, family member, or colleague urges them to, ” So for us to take our voter registration and participation numbers from the bottom to the top we need people who are willing to encourage others to participate in elections,” said Hargett.

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