Young Tennesseans are discouraged by politics, but they need to engage to make change

Tennessee has a voter turnout problem. Two in five eligible voters didn’t cast a legal ballot in the last presidential election. That’s more than 2 million people in the state who didn’t participate in a highly contested race for the highest office in the country.

The age demographic least likely to vote are young adults ages 18 to 29. An alarming 57% of young adults in Tennessee didn’t vote in the 2020 presidential race. And in the 2022 mid-terms, more than 85% didn’t vote, despite the chance to determine who would be governor.

Young adults may think that their vote doesn’t matter. No matter what political party they favor, they may sit out because they live in a so-called “red” state, and believe the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The state is “purple,” and the difference between Trump and Biden in 2020 was a mere 700,000 votes. The 2 million missing Tennessee votes could have swayed that election result. Every vote mattered.

Young people have issues that deserve to be considered

Young voters may be turned off by harsh rhetoric and mean-spirited advertising, and they may simply decide they are apolitical. The truth is, none of us is truly apolitical. Policies set by mayors, the state legislature, the governor, U.S. representatives and senators, and the president of the United States figure in all of our daily lives.

Young adults have their own perspectives on issues including gun violence, student debt, abortion law, DACA recipients and other immigration policies, climate change, and military spending. Perhaps they struggle to afford health care or medication, or perhaps they can’t find affordable housing. Maybe they’ve been harmed by social media. When they don’t take the time to evaluate candidates for elected office and choose people who will represent their views and priorities, their perspectives are lost.

Young adults learn about gerrymandering and believe that there’s no use in voting. They hear the false claim that elections are “rigged,” or believe there is corruption on all sides. They may have voted once for a politician who didn’t deliver on promises. Yet young adults must be encouraged to forge ahead and vote anyway.

There will always be elected officials who do things they shouldn’t, and hopefully they are caught and appropriately punished. Elections aren’t rigged. Legislation takes time, especially if it involves a sea change. There will be pushback and legal battles, and democracy is inherently messy. Yet young adults must realize how lucky they are to live in a country where they do have a say and progress is possible.

More: When is Tennessee's primary election? Who the GOP presidential candidates on the ballot, more

Here are ideas for encouraging more young people to vote

Here's the recipe for increasing young adult turnout in Tennessee: News media must stop calling Tennessee a “red state.” It’s purple.

Withdraw the requirement that voters must be registered 30 days before an election. Many states allow voters to register on the same day they vote. One state doesn’t even require registration. Tennessee should consider it.

Several states have adopted all-mail elections and have increased turnout. Further, receiving the ballot in the mail gives voters time to mull it over and make considered choices on their own time. (It also saves the government money.)

More: Lessons the Tennessee General Assembly can learn from its actions (or inaction) in 2023

Encourage young adults to vote in primaries and help select party nominees. This may alleviate non-voting due to disliking the choices in the general election.

Lastly, teens need reliable information on elections and voting. Most students turn 18 and are eligible to vote while in high school, making it easy to reach and educate them.

Young adults are our future, and their participation in our democracy must be encouraged and heralded.

Amy Eskind, a former Tennessee resident, is a journalist and author of "Vote! A Guide for Young Adults."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Democracy in Tennessee: Young people need to vote to get heard