Preds Honored by Tennessee Secretary of State for Voting Partnership

There were 17,159 fans inside Bridgestone Arena the last time Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett was in the building, and they were making their voices heard in favor of the Predators.
On Monday, Secretary Hargett was back in the arena, this time to recognize the Preds for helping their fans project their voices once more.
Hargett was on hand to present the Predators with the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Medallion Award for their advocacy and dedication to promoting civic and voter engagement through their partnership with the
Your Vote Matters
campaign.

The NASS Medallion Award recognizes outstanding service and dedication to furthering the mission of the National Association of Secretaries of State. Individual secretaries of state may present the award to honor individuals in their state who promote the goals of NASS in one or more of four areas: elections, civic education, service to state government or a commitment of giving.
As far as Hargett was concerned, the Preds were more than deserving.
"I was delighted to present the NASS Medallion Award from the National Association of Secretaries of State to the Nashville Predators today," Hargett said. "I'm grateful for Sean, his leadership and the entire organization with how they embraced the Your Vote Matters campaign. We're trying to help Tennesseans understand that every single vote matters… From every level of the organization, they have really embraced civic engagement. They have been great partners, and we expect greatness, but it was even better than we possibly could have imagined. We appreciate what they're doing to try and bring this community together in so many different ways and delighted to call them a great partner and recognize them with today's award."

Back in January, the Preds and Secretary Hargett announced their partnership on the Your Vote Matters campaign, which encourages all eligible Tennesseans to make their voices heard in 2020 by registering to vote and exercising their right to vote during early voting or on Election Day.
Since then, the partners have worked to register voters at games, show fans how easy it is to register to vote online and urge fans to turn out on election day. As part of the Your Vote Matters campaign, the Predators have also encouraged Tennesseans to serve as poll officials, even closing their virtual office on Nov. 3 to allow staff to partake. In the coming days and weeks, the Preds will highlight the benefits of voting early and continue urging fans to vote on election day.
"Only a few of these awards] get issued a year, so to receive one for all of Smashville, not just the organization, but for all of our fans and our players that played a big part of getting the message out, it was really nice," Henry said. "There's nothing more important to move this community forward than first registering to vote, and then obviously participating in the vote.
We've already set a record for registered voters in Tennessee. Now we need to set a record for voter turnout. This is a bipartisan issue, regardless of how you're going to vote, it's important you do vote. And that's why we were so excited about partnering with his office to make it as easy as possible for people to register. And now, starting on Wednesday, get out and vote"
With the team's help, Hargett says, the state of Tennessee has more than 4.4 million registered voters. Residents may check their registration status, request an absentee ballot, find their polling place and also register to become a poll worker by visiting
[GoVoteTN.com
or through the Go Vote TN app.
"The Nashville Predators are really a unifying force here in Nashville and Middle Tennessee and throughout Tennessee… and whenever they come out and they tell people how important it is to engage in the civic arena of the public square, then people tend to believe it," Hargett said. "It's one thing when the Secretary of State in a coat and tie stands up and says, 'Hey, you ought to get registered vote,' but whenever people who are out there on the ice who are not political are telling people the importance of civic engagement, it means that much more."