EDITORIAL: If you have the right to vote, do it

Jackson Post editorial

We’ve heard for the past few years from Secretary of State Tre Hargett about how Tennessee has been recognized as having the safest elections in the nation - meaning our state’s election results are the most trustworthy because there’s very little potential for voter fraud compared to the other 49 states.

We should also be aware that Tennessee is among the lowest states in the country in terms of voter turnout.

And in most cases, Madison County is among the worst areas in the state when it comes to voter turnout.

There have been Jackson municipal elections in the past that garnered single-digit percentage voter turnout.

All of those numbers can be changed with this election cycle if people would simply show up to the polls and make their voice heard in the voting booth.

Wednesday started early voting for the May 5 primary elections, and the weekly schedule until April 30 is pretty simple:

• Sunday - closed
• Monday - 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Tuesday - 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
• Wednesday - 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Thursday - 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Friday - 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Saturday - 9 a.m. until noon

So you can go to 309 North Parkway during those times in the next couple weeks and cast your vote without having to wait very long to do so.

And if you’re not aware of where that is and GPS is for some reason not available to you, you essentially find the Jackson-Madison County Schools Central Office and go across the road.

And then, there’s always election day on May 5, but why deal with the crowds when you can get it done probably a lot more easily early?

Here are a few more reasons to vote early:

The candidates are all in one spot campaigning. There’s a campaign strategy that suggests a voter is more likely to vote for a candidate if that person is the last person they see before going to vote, so many of the candidates in the contested primaries will probably be out waving at you as you turn off the road hoping to get your vote. You don’t get that on election day since there are 29 precincts candidates are all ensuring someone is at.

There’s usually some drama at early voting. Eight years ago, we had candidates swinging hammers at each other. Four years ago, we had shouting matches happening in the parking lot over crossover voting. Two years ago, we had a guy get run over after an accidental pressing of a gas pedal in a car.

There probably won’t be as much crossover voting this year since there are a couple of competitive primaries on the Democratic side this time around, but that issue is always one that could create some unplanned drama if the right group of people get fired up about it.

Either way, the right to vote may not be the singular thing that sets the United States apart from every other country in the world since other countries do vote, but it’s the very foundation of everything else this country is built upon.

The power is with the people, and we choose in these next few weeks who will make the decisions that will affect us a lot more directly than any decision made in Washington or Nashville over the next four years.

So let’s see a reversal in the voter turnout trend in Madison County.

If you don’t show up to vote because you think your vote doesn’t matter, there’s no better way to make that assumption correct than to not vote. You never know what might happen if everyone shows up to vote.

Letters to the editor and guest columns are encouraged as a venue for readers to voice their opinions on local matters or the occasional state or national matter. Letters can be e-mailed to brandon@jacksonpost.news.