Earlier this summer, I enjoyed spending some time watching the Olympics. As someone who appreciates the commitment and years of training to which competitive athletes must dedicate themselves, seeing the Olympians compete is in a league of its own.
While a professional baseball player will play in 162 games during a single regular season, plus another 30 games during spring training and a handful more if his team makes it to the playoffs, an Olympic athlete might only have one chance. Ever.
Think about training day in and day out for years and years. Think about all the hard work, sweat and effort that is required to make it to the highest level of competition in the world. After all of that effort, you stand at the starting line, the gun fires and you have 200 meters to sprint. And in 20 seconds, the race is over.
It provides a sense of drama that I don’t get watching other sports because the stakes are so high. And since the Olympics only happen every four years, that athlete might never make it back again. I think these athletes are extraordinary.
On Nov. 5, there is another event in our state and our country that happens on a four-year cycle. And you have the ability to do something extraordinary. The good news is that you can do it without the years of toiling and training, without the fear of failure or rejection that comes from not measuring up. And frankly, many in the world couldn’t even imagine this feat even being possible.
If you have registered to vote, you have the right to go to your polling place and choose who our elected leaders will be. Whether it is your local dog catcher or the president of the United States, your vote matters. In the scope of human history, it is extraordinary that you can go to cast your ballot without fear and in an orderly fashion.
And the even better news is that Tennessee makes voting easy and secure.
In our state, as in most, the responsibility for conducting elections is shared among state and local government officials. Secretary of State Tre Hargett oversees the administration of elections statewide, and each county has a bipartisan Election Commission that implements voting procedures and runs polling places. Tennessee was recently ranked No. 1 in the nation for election integrity, based on the rules and regulations that protect the ballot box.
If you need to learn more about the upcoming elections, look up a sample ballot, see where you can go to vote and find lots of other useful information, you can go to sos.tn.gov/elections, or you can download the GoVoteTN app from your phone’s app store.
If you haven’t yet registered, it might not be too late. The deadline to register before the state and federal general election is Oct. 7. If you have already registered but won’t be able to vote on Nov. 5, you might be eligible to cast an absentee ballot, or you can visit an early-voting site Oct. 16-31. Or you can join me in the excitement of voting on Election Day itself.
Back in the late 1980s, a popular song told us that we had to fight for our right. But in this case, there is no fight required. Just show up and take the time to exercise your right. A party afterward is optional.
