Inspiring 100+ Year Olds Who Were Determined to Vote This Year No Matter What
The 2020 general election is monumental for many reasons: It's occurring in the middle of a global pandemic. Many states are seeing record turnout even before Election Day on November 3. First-time voters are galvanized and voting in huge numbers. And those who have been able to vote since the 1930s are turning out at all costs as well, despite elevated risks to their health and other challenges to making sure their ballot is counted.
Below, see some of the incredible voters over 100 years old, many of whom were alive before women had the right to vote (which was granted via the 19th amendment in 1919), who have hit the polls in 2020.
Beatrice Lumpkin, 102
Bea Lumpkin Facebook
The 102-year-old Chicago resident has voted in every election since 1940. She cast this year's ballot in a hazmat suit specially designed for her by her grandson.
Sara Muniz, 106
Today is Sara Muniz’s 106th birthday! She made is a point to come out and #vote. She was able to do it curbside at the San Antonio Shrine Auditorium. @News4SA @KABBFOX29 #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/vv5UKEo5Bt
— Joe Galli (@JoeGalliNews) November 3, 2020
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News 4 San Antonio reporter Joe Galli shared a picture of resident Sara Muniz, who was voting on her 106th birthday. The city's mayor Ron Nirenberg wished her a happy birthday after she dropped her ballot off curbside: "You're my hero today," he said.
Talu Massey, 103
Paul Sancya/Shutterstock
Eight decades after casting her first ballot, for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Detroit resident voted absentee in September. "As an American citizen, you have a right to cast your vote for who you want in office, who you want to be running the government,” she said in an interview.
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Ana Belfield, 101
The retired nurse brought her walker and braved long lines to vote in New York. "This vote means an awful lot," she told CBS News. "I'm just hoping that my vote will make a difference."
Ruth Rosner, 104
People cheered and clapped for the New Yorker, who cast her first vote in 1936, as she voted in the 2020 election. She was determined to vote despite the risks; her own father had died in the 1918 flu pandemic. A #ruthtothebooth hashtag even got the attention of Hillary Clinton, who Tweeted, "If Ruth can get to the vote, the rest of us don't have much excuse."
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Samuel Bovalino, 104
cnycentral.com Samuel Bovalino voting
The Syracuse, N.Y. resident voted in his 21st presidential election on Tuesday. He first cast his vote in the 1940 election for Roosevelt vs. Wilkie. "It is a wonderful thing and very important that you do it every time," Bovalino said.
Roscoe Draper, 101
Queen Latifah shared what she said was a photo of the New Jersey resident and veteran - last year honored for his service in the Tuskegee Airmen - casting his ballot. "If he can do it so can you! This is America! This is patriotism! I believe in us so let’s do this! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!" she wrote.
Anna May Snyder, 101
I’ve heard a lot of people say this election is historic. But how does it compare to last 101 years? I’m talking to the oldest active voter in York Co as she is getting a special honor. What she says is her most memorable election. I’ll give you a hint- it’s not 2020 @fox43 pic.twitter.com/SuBS7ekcLv
— Jamie Bittner (@JamieReports) October 12, 2020
Born in 1919, the year women got the right to vote, the oldest active voter in York County, Penn. received a certificate of commendation for her participation in this year's election. "Voting is a privilege," she said.
C.B. Stewart, 101
The Somerset, Ky. resident was born in the middle of the Spanish Flu, in 1918, and told the Somerset Courier-Journal he has only missed one election: when he was serving in the army during World War II. He was determined to make this election, and proudly telegraphed his support for his preferred candidate.
Bernice Chilton, 101
Despite arthritis and a broken bone that made it difficult for her to walk, the Penn. voter showed up to cast her ballot because of a state law requiring people to turn in their absentee ballots in person. "Never have I missed voting," Chilton told the York Daily Record, with her granddaughter adding that even the lack of a ramp for her to climb with a walker wouldn't deter her: “If she couldn’t make it up, I would have asked somebody to help me."
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Rose Cope, 103
If you don’t vote, you can’t applaud or complain about the results. That is the philosophy of Rose Cope, 103, who will cast her ballot at Tuesday’s general election, as she has every year since 1936. https://t.co/RlQnY4Vs5r
— Fairbanks News-Miner (@newsminer) November 2, 2020
The 103-year-old Alaska resident voted, as she has in every election since 1936, she told the Fairbanks News-Miner.