NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper and Tennessee state Sen. Steve Dickerson are hoping to raise voter registration rates with a new project involving businesses and other organizations.

A news release from Cooper said Tennessee has more than 838,000 adults who aren't registered to vote. The release said Cooper, a Democrat, and Dickerson, a Republican, worked together to increase Nashville high school registration rates by 85 percent in 2015.

Their new effort, Project Register, aims to raise awareness about online voter registration across Middle Tennessee.

The program involves businesses, nonprofits and other organizations encouraging new employees to register to vote and reminding employees twice a year to register to vote online.

The release said more than 70 organizations representing more than 125,000 employees have signed up to participate.