Linda Phillips, the Administrator of Elections for the Shelby County Election Commission, discussed the issues of low voter turnout at “The Importance of Voting” on Oct. 30 in the Ned. R. McWherter Library at the University of Memphis.
Phillips covered the issues with voter participation that Tennessee and Shelby County have faced since she began her tenure as the administrative leader of the Shelby County Election Commission in May 2016.
“Typically people vote because they think either there is an issue that is really important to them or they think their vote will make a difference,” Phillips said. “I think an awful lot of people don’t think their vote will make any difference. When you don’t vote, you let other people choose for you.”
Phillips said politicians focus on the issues of older people because they are the ones who turn out to vote. Tennessee had the third lowest voter turnout out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2016, according to 2016 data from the Elections Performance Index, an election administration assessment tool made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To vote in Tennessee, citizens must be registered to vote 30 days before the election, but Phillips said the issue is not getting registered; it is going to the polls.
“You really do need to make your voices heard,” Phillips said. “The best way to do that is to actually go out and vote. What young voters need to take away from this is that politicians, the people who make our laws, pay attention to people who vote. I think if younger voters turned out in huge numbers, you would see dramatically different topics with politicians.”
The Tennessee Online Voter Registration System allows voters to register or change their address if they have moved. The system offers United States citizens with a driver’s license or photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security the ability to register to vote online. Phillips said any additional questions regarding anything like past election results or district locations can be answered at shelbyvote.com, the election commission’s website.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there,” Phillips said. “Every vote is counted, whether it is early or an absentee by mail.”
Phillips said every vote matters in an election.
“I lost an election once by four votes,” Phillips said. “Every vote does matter.”
The midterm elections are Nov. 6, and early voting ends Nov. 1. The event Phillips hosted served as an opportunity to help answer any last-second questions in an effort to maximize participation in the election.
“I came here to learn about the importance of voting because I used to think that voting was not important, but I learned today that every vote counts,” said Sydney Butler, a psychology student at the U of M.
Anna Swearengen said she hoped more people would be at the event.
“I think that if someone came to this event, they were interested in voting no matter what,” Swearengen said. “Hopefully this event encouraged some people even more.”
