COVINGTON, Ga. (WSB) – Early voting is underway in Georgia this week.
A record number of voters, both young and old, are casting their ballots, but one 81-year-old woman is voting for the first time in her life.
“I’m 81 today, but Sunday, I’ll be 82,” first-time voter Betty Cartledge said.
Cartledge has seen a lot in her 81 years, but she’s never seen the inside of a voting booth.
That was until Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m going to vote for the first time in my life,” Cartledge said before casting her ballot.
With the help of her niece, Cartledge voted for the very first time at a polling location in Covington.
Cartledge says she never voted before because her husband didn’t think she should.
Last year, her husband died.
This year, Cartledge voted.
“I was so young and everything when we got married, I didn’t ever think about it,” Cartledge said. “And then when I got old, I still didn’t think it would count.”
Bryant Hairston is also an older voter, but he is quite different from Cartledge.
“Everybody’s trying to get out here and get the vote before the last day and big, long lines. I was in and out,” Hairston remarked.
Hairston says he votes in every single election, big or small.
“Every election is important, right? But I had to definitely get in here for this one,” Hairston added.
While Cartledge had a little help leaving the polling place, she says it was an experience she clearly waited a lifetime for.
“It was neat. It was good,” Cartledge described.
Early voting in Georgia ends Nov. 1.
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