Why Tennessee Primary Turnout Is the Lowest In U.S. (William Haupt III Exclusive Editorial)

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”- Pericles The Great, 495 BC-429 BC, The Golden Age of Greece, The father of democracy.

Image Credit: TN Secretary of State / Facebook

By William Haupt III [Tennessee Watchdog Journalist, Columnist, Author, and Citizen Legislator] –

Next time you complain about a massive property tax hike to your county commissioner, just ask yourself? Did you vote for him in the last primary election? Did you know that he also works for the county road department, and his division got a huge increase in funding? Or did you vote at all? 

Every election there’s a lot of focus on who voted. But there’s little debate about who didn’t vote?

Most people think voting is casting votes on Election Day amongst a frenzy of signs and banners  for state and national offices. Those who say “I voted for the lesser of two evils” are usually those who seldom carefully study their candidates and vote for the best ones running in the primaries. 

According to the office of the TN Secretary of State, in Tennessee’s Aug. 4 primary election, less than 20% of the state’s registered voters bothered to vote. This depressing data indicates that only 890,886 voters out of 4,491,549 cared who will be running our state next year. That’s 30,000 voters less than last year. This mirrors how apathetic voters are about defending our Republican values!   

Tennessee State University professor Kent Syler said that, “Everyone focuses on who is going to be president, forgetting that state and local governments have the most impact on their lives. From school boards to the State Houses, you can see there is little concern for important local races.”

According to the PEW Charitable Trust’s analysis of the 2020 midterm elections, their data shows the state of Tennessee was a dismal 40th in voter registration at 74% of the voting age population, and was 50th in voter turnout, at 28%, that election. PEW’s data is respected and accurate since it is based on voters’ responses to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Voting and Registration Supplement.

If voting in the primaries is so important, then why does Tennessee rank last in the nation? Simply, there is no consistency in how states notify voters of elections. Some states have not updated their voting laws since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965! The American Standard for Voting notes only 19% of states scored above 60% according to the provisions in the Voting Rights Act. 

Failure to be notified of elections is the voter’s chief complaint. How can people vote if they don’t know there is an election? According to a UC Berkeley report, only half of the states make a real attempt to notify voters of elections. And all those states notify voters by U.S. mail. CA along with all other blue states send out sample ballots to their voters to study and utilize while at the polls.

The Voting Rights Act states, “failure to notify voters of an election is disenfranchisement.” Yet few people know this: Judging by local turn out, few care. Some states post election data on a bulletin board at their city hall. Others tack them on a wall at the library. Other states run them in a weekly fish wrap that nobody reads. All states list them on the Internet but if you don’t own a computer, too bad so sad. Some even hear about them on Facebook and Twitter—-only after it’s too late to vote.

According to U.S. Census data, since 2000, the average turnout rate for primary elections is a little over 33% average in most states. This jumps up to an average of 65.5% for the general elections.

So why is there such a discontinuity in turnout for general elections and the local primaries?

Since presidents, congressmen and governors run in the general Elections, they are big news on TV, radio, newspapers and social media for months. Then on Election Day people flock to the polls believing that electing a new president, congressmen or governor will be the panacea for all of their problems. Yet who do voters turn to when they want a bad teacher replaced, a street light fixed, a stop sign put up at a bad intersection: And where do they go to squeal about unfair property taxes?  

A recent American Standard for Voting study found that the number one reason people do not vote in the primaries is that they don’t even know those elections are being held. In states where voters are notified by U.S. mail of all elections and referendums, they have the highest primary turnouts. 

Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-1-110, states, “Notices of elections shall be published “in a newspaper (or newspapers) of general circulation to inform all voters of an election.” This has been obsolete for decades since newspaper readership is a fraction of what it was when this law was written! News Source reports that over half of the country’s newspapers have gone belly up in the last decade.  

The last attempt to amend § 2-1-110 was in 2015. The Tennessee Voters Right To Information Act stated that “a postcard shall be delivered by U.S. mail to all registered voters informing them of an election with the date and their polling place.” The bill was carried by then Rep Mark Pody and Sen Beavers. The bill died an instant death when the counties cried that it cost too much to follow the law!  

Before we ran the bill, I contacted USPS to secure the bulk rate for sending out these postcards for elections. “The government mailing rate” was much cheaper than “if our counties actually followed our current laws” and posted these elections “in as many newspapers as possible in each county to ensure every voter was informed of all elections, referendums, and every issue and candidate.”

Tennessee has a national reputation for being one of the states that has extremely low voter turn out for local and primary elections. Yet simply amending Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-1-110 to obligate governments to send out postcards in the US mail would resolve this. There is something “fishy in the Cumberland river”, if our counties have no desire to correct our antiquated state voting statues. 

You don’t need to be a genius to see why our counties won’t “rock the election boat.” Tennessee is the only state that allows county workers to run for positions on the county commission. Since the commissions are filled with county employees, low voter turnout is in their favor. If their friends and families only know about elections where “winner takes all,” they are easily reelected each election. 

With so many leftugees invading our state, this amplifies the need for every conservative voter to vote in every primary. It is critical that every native Volunteer votes for those who promise they will protect our southern values, traditions, religion, our patriotism and most importantly our red politics.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act ensures our right to vote is never violated. Those who think the VRA only protects the minority vote, don’t know their law. The VRA has been quoted by the Supreme Court a number of times as justification for state voter ID laws. They argue that every illegal vote counted nullifies votes cast by legitimate voters and the VRA applies to every registered voter.

With every seat on the line today and liberals chomping at the bit to flip them, every election at every level of government is critical for Republican survival. Tennessee has antediluvian voter notification election laws and they need to be updated if we want to prevent liberals and RINOS from diluting the serenity of the conservative values, freedoms, and the liberties we cherish most.  

Local government is the farm system for all politicians. Local elections have the greatest impact on our lives yet voter interest is dismal. The same retreads are reelected each year and too few care. Voters tend to forget what happens in local government segues into the state, then to the halls of Congress and even the oval office. And people wonder why we have so many imbeciles in D.C.?

It is time to correct the problem of low turnout for our primary elections. Progressives and liberals from the north are eager to take over key local and state offices so they can make Tennessee a clone of the state from which they fled. We need to resurrect and pass The Tennessee Voters Right To Information Act of 2015, to ensure that every registered Tennessee voter knows about every election and votes for candidates who will maintain the political integrity of our great state.    

“Voting in the midterm elections is important because when people engage directly with their local government, it reminds those placed in power that they are public servants who we the people will hold accountable for their decisions and their actions when the election is over.” -Larry Elder

William Haupt III is a retired professional journalist, author, and citizen legislator in California for over 40 years. He got his start working to approve California Proposition 13. His work also appears in The Center Square, The Western Journal, Neighbor Newspapers, KPXJ 21 (Shreveport, LA), Killeen Daily Herald, Aberdeen American News, InsideNova, Kankakee Daily Journal, Monterey County Weekly, Olean Times Herald, The Greeneville Sun and more. Follow William on Twitter @iii_haupt.