Tennesseans are able to ceremonially dedicate their vote in the state and federal general election this November to a veteran or an active-duty member of the U.S. military. Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s “Tennessee Honor Vote” program “lets Tennesseans dedicate their vote to those who are serving or have served our country,” according to a website about the program.
Dedicate your vote in the Nov. 8 State and Federal General Election to a veteran or active-duty member of the U.S. military with #TNHonorVote. Honor Vote dedications are posted on https://t.co/eBiL9iCXT6 and @tnhonorvote. To register, visit https://t.co/CJPj5fkEpM. #GoVoteTN pic.twitter.com/QWikLcmmuS
— Tre Hargett (@tnsecofstate) October 3, 2022
Voters may dedicate their vote to anyone either currently or formerly serving in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, or Tennessee National Guard.
“The men and women of the U.S. military ensure our freedom and democracy, allowing us to cast a ballot each Election Day,” notes a webpage about the program.
The Honor Vote program is purely symbolic, enabling voters to dedicate their single vote to the service member of their choice. The program is free and open to any registered voter in Tennessee. Those who participate in the program will receive an information guide and an official 2022 Honor Vote commemorative button sent by mail.
“We have the right to select our leaders through free elections thanks to the brave men and women who have served our country in the armed forces,” Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said in a statement. “The Honor Vote program is a small way that we can show our appreciation for the soldiers who fought for our rights and serve our country to protect them.”
According to Hargett’s office, all Honor Vote dedications are posted on the official Tennessee Honor Vote List on govotetn.gov and the Honor Vote Twitter account @tnhonorvote. In addition, participants of the program are encouraged to share their dedication on their social media accounts using the hashtags #TNHonorVote and #GoVoteTN.
Those interested in participating in the Honor Vote program can find more information at https://honorvote.govotetn.gov/.
Tennesseans planning on voting in the November election must be registered to vote by this Tuesday, October 11. Early voting runs from October 19 through November 3 with the deadline of requesting a mail-in ballot on November 1. Mail-in ballots must be returned on voting day, November 8.
To access all additional election information, please visit the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Division of Elections ‘GoVoteTN’ portal, located at sos.tn.gov/govotetn
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “U.S. Military Soldiers” by The U.S. National Archives.
If we REALLY want to respect the veterans, we should: get out of stupid foreign wars and commitments like: Iraq; Afganistan; the Korean Peninsula; Haiti; etc. Secondly, provide veterans with excellent medical and psychiatric care to fight PTSD, etc.
Is it any wonder that government (at all levels) are bloated to the point of explosion with “workers” and “leaders” who have nothing more to do than think up some utterly stupid way to waste my tax dollars. I lay this at the feet of Little Billy Lee, but that should be no surprise. He as worthless as _____ (fill in the blank).
“Honor Vote”? What a colossal waste of time. When an incompetent leader can’t do what needs to be done, he concentrates on making the office look good. “Honor Vote “, IMHO, is the brainchild of a non-leader who has to come up with SOMETHING.
To be clear, someone else came up with it, he just made it happen.
I am trying to wrap my head around the cost to the Taxpayers for this effort. Offering an incentive to vote feels eerily similar to paying off student loans. This is simply not a function of government. I dedicated a quarter century of my life to defending Liberty and Freedom in the armed service. I would gladly surrender my retirement pay if my government would stop wasting my money. Cleaning up the mess they call the Veterans Administration or prosecuting the people that commit fraud and theft of government funds would be a better use of this limited resource. This smacks of a complete lack of oversight by the state legislature and the lack of intestinal fortitude of elected/appointed officials to do the right thing, not the thing that will get them re-elected or re-appointed. If you truly wanted to encourage people to vote, be honest about how badly you are over taxing them and how inept you are at accounting for the money you have been entrusted with.