With no statewide election taking place in Mississippi this year, the Secretary of State’s Promote the Vote the campaign is focusing on state history as part of Mississippi’s bicentennial celebration.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann visited Warren Central High School Thursday to introduce students to the Promote the Vote campaign for 2017 and encourage them to enter the essay and art contests.

“We are generally in charge of the election process and all of these are potential voters,” Hosemann said. “We have real challenges in getting young men and women out to vote. That is why you hear me talk about young men and women in the service and how important it is and how governing begins at the ballot box.”

This year’s Promote the Vote campaign divided the state of Mississippi into nine regions with Vicksburg falling into the Lower Mississippi River region along with Natchez. As part of the program, the Secretary of State’s office published a handbook titled “A Bicentennial History of Mississippi” detailing the history of each region over the last 200 years.

“History is the platform,” Hosemann said. “That is the platform for everything, how we got here. Some of our history is unattractive when you go back and look at some of the things we did. All of it is a platform for where we go for the future.”

Students are encouraged to read the history of their region and then enter the essay and/or visual arts competition where they will highlight what they believe to be the most important issue facing their region in the future using the history for context.

“These young men and women we are talking to will end up being the governor, running the banks and on the board of supervisors,” Hosemann said. “It is really important they understand how we got here and where they want to take us.”

Hosemann said he is hoping by learning the history of their region and looking at the future in context, students will be able to begin formulating a plan for where the state needs to go in the future.

“Everything that I do, that I look at, is where are we going to be in 10 years,” he said. “Where are we going to be in two decades, not necessarily where we are going to be in next year. In two decades these people are going to be running the state of Mississippi.

“Where they think we’re going is really important because that is where they are going to lead us in the end. Second of all, it gives us a vision of what we should be doing in the interim while they are preparing to take over.”

Hosemann spoke to an AP U.S. History class for juniors and a U.S. Government class for sophomores and seniors while at Warren Central. Although none of the students were eligible yet, Hosemann also talked to them about the importance of registering to vote and casting a ballot in every election.

“Him coming back and talking about voting, that is something that a lot of times students don’t really think about until they’re 18. At times, they don’t know what it is about at first,” WCHS principal Eric Green said. “For them to have somebody come in and talk to them and explain the history of this is how we got here and this is where we’re going and a lot of that is impacted by voting, it gets them thinking in that direction.”

Essays for the competition are due by Dec. 1 and have a 500-word maximum. Winning students from each of the nine regions will be honored at the state capital Feb. 8 and receive $100.