Tennesseans are not voting like they should.

The population has grown, but the number of voters has fallen. August primary results offer hope.

Scroll down to read about voter promotion: Project Register, Proud Voter Challenge, ThinkTennessee.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee.

Tennessee’s residents were far more motivated to vote for governor and U.S. senator in the 2018 primary elections than four years ago.

In fact, the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial and senatorial primaries garnered 30 percent and 20 percent more votes, respectively, than in the 2014 primaries.

The uptick in votes takes some of the sting out of Tennessee being ranked 49th in voter turnout and 47th in voter registration.

From 2006 to 2014, Tennessee’s population rose by 500,000 residents while the number of voters decreased by 400,000, and about 838,000 Tennesseans are not registered to vote.

Still, we can count the recent primary results as a small victory for democracy.

Consider:

2014 votes for governor

GOP primary: 651,247

651,247 Democratic primary: 228,025

228,025 Total: 879,272

2018 votes for governor

GOP primary: 792,153

792,153 Democratic primary: 372,655

372,655 Total: 1.16 million

2014 votes for senator

GOP primary: 668,039

668,039 Democratic primary: 240,949

240,949 Total: 908,988

2018 votes for senator

GOP primary: 717,885

717,885 Democratic primary: 378,548

378,548 Total: 1.096 million

To be fair, the governor and senator posts are open seats because Gov. Bill Haslam is term limited and Sen. Bob Corker is retiring at the end of his term.

In 2014, Haslam easily won his primary race and later the general election for a second term. That year, Tennessee’s senior Sen. Lamar Alexander won his primary by less than a majority of votes, although he trounced his general election opponent.

The 2018 results can be explained by a combination of excitement, fear, anxiety and, maybe, a little hope, which is no different than outcomes seen in Tuesday’s primary elections in states such as Florida and Arizona.

What if we could turn this fear and anxiety into a commitment to civic participation election after election?