NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Volunteer State is the gold standard again. In the debut episode of the Secretary of State’s new show, Between You, Me, and the Fence Post, Secretary of State Tre Hargett noted that Tennessee “for the fifth year in a row” has “been recognized as the number one state in election integrity” by the Heritage Foundation. His first guest, State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins, explained exactly how Tennessee got there.

“Essentially that scorecard is based on verification,” Goins said. First, photo ID: “You are who you say you are when you come in to vote,” a law Tennessee put in place in 2011. Second, eligibility: “We get high marks on the scorecard for making sure that people are U.S. citizens,” using the federal SAVE verification system. Goins said Tennessee and Louisiana were the two states chosen to help test and enhance that system. Tennessee also does not mass-mail ballots, and it watermarks its absentee ballots, an idea credited on the show to House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Goins also credited the General Assembly for writing strong laws, and he summed up the mission in one line: “Trust isn’t built after an election. Trust is built before an election.” Hargett, for his part, said there are “a lot of states that wish that I would do it like they do it. I’m not going to.”

Now the practical part. This year’s ballot is longer than usual, with three proposed constitutional amendments, and Goins said county officials who timed themselves needed “between eight to 10 minutes” just to read every word. “So we are begging, pleading, please read your ballot now,” he said. Voters can read the amendments and a sample ballot, and find their polling place and hours, in the GoVoteTN app or at govotetn.gov. Down-ballot races matter too, the pair stressed, from legislators to school boards.

Early voting opened Wednesday and runs through Thursday, Oct. 29, including Saturdays, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3. On opening day, Hargett’s office also knocked down a viral social-media claim, stating that a ballot is not disqualified simply because an election official or poll worker makes an administrative notation on it, and urging voters with questions to call the Division of Elections at 1-877-850-4959. Watch the official Tennessee Secretary of State video.