December 11, 2024

(Nashville, Tenn.) – Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett today announced that applications for the 2025 Anne Dallas Dudley Voter Registration Awards are now being accepted.

Initiated in 2021, the Anne Dallas Dudley Awards focus on increasing voter registration in Tennessee among students who will be 18 or older on or before the next election per state law, preparing them to become actively engaged citizens.

“Through their participation in the Anne Dallas Dudley Awards, we hope more of our future leaders will become civically engaged, register to vote, cast a ballot in the next election cycle, and remain lifelong voters,” said Secretary Hargett.   

Tennessee’s local election commissions are key partners in supporting those participating in the Anne Dallas Dudley Awards, helping to promote voter registration and the significance of fair and transparent elections among eligible students. All 95 Tennessee counties have bipartisan election commissions, and they work diligently to maintain the integrity of the electoral process while helping new voters navigate their first steps toward civic engagement.

The Anne Dallas Dudley Awards are a part of the Secretary of State’s civics engagement initiative to promote voter registration among eligible students. The award is named in honor of Anne Dallas Dudley, a suffragist, who helped lead the successful effort to get the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified nationwide and in her home state. On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and final state needed to pass the amendment giving women the right to vote.

Tennessee high schools that register 100 percent of eligible students 18 or older to vote earn the Anne Dallas Dudley Gold Level Award. Those registering at least 85 percent of eligible students 18 or older earn the Anne Dallas Dudley Silver Level Award.

The application deadline is Friday, March 7, 2025, and the program is open to all Tennessee public, charter, private school, or home school associations. For award rules and guidelines, please visit https://sos.tn.gov/anne-dallas-dudley-award

For more information about other civic engagement education efforts, please visit sos.tn.gov/civics.

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