September Is National Voter Registration Month

September marks the start of Nation Voter Registration Month, and local elections administrators are encouraging folks to participate.

Overton County Administrator of Elections Craig Story said there are multiple ways to register to vote, including in person and online. All you need is a state-issued Tennessee driver’s license.

“The story that I tell people is that I was at a high school basketball game and I had a kid who hadn’t registered to vote so I handed him my phone and said ‘Here do it online,'” Story said. “And at halftime of a ballgame we registered the kid to vote, so it’s that easy.”

Story said there are roughly 15,000 registered voters in Overton County out of the population’s 22,500. He said when you take away people under 18 and those who choose not to vote, it’s a solid percentage of Overton Countians who are registered to vote.

Story said occasionally folks don’t want to register to vote for one reason or another, including for religious reasons. However, he said it’s important to register in order to have a voice in important matters.

“We’ve got a November election coming up with a registration deadline that’ll be in October for that,” Story said. “But we’re going to have the governor’s office that’s going to be on the ballot and we’re going to have some Congressional seats, some Constitutional Amendments, and some things that are going to be substantial that people are going to need a voice in.”