Recently celebrating his 100th birthday on October 1, former President Jimmy Carter, the longest-living president in U.S. history, exercised his right to vote again on October 16. In early voting in Georgia, he cast his ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson and chairman of the Carter Center, shared that since February of last year, his grandfather has been receiving care at a hospice facility. On the 16th, he voted by mail, with a family member delivering the absentee ballot to a drop box at a courthouse in Americus, Georgia.
The Carter family noted that in recent weeks, Jimmy Carter has been downplaying the significance of reaching the century mark, with his primary desire being to support Vice President Kamala Harris with his vote.
According to Georgia law, October 7 marked the first day for counties in Georgia to send out domestic mail-in ballots for registered voters. Election officials began mailing military and overseas ballots in September, and early in-person voting started on October 15, with reports indicating historically high voter turnout.
It remains uncertain when Carter cast his very first vote; however, Georgia became the first state in the nation to lower the voting age to 18 in 1943, and Carter was just months shy of turning 19 when voters decided to amend the state constitution.
In 1962, Carter entered the political arena and defeated a rival embroiled in a voting scandal to become a state senator. Carter later remarked that this event inspired him and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, to establish the Carter Center after leaving the White House in 1981. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for voter registration and campaign finance, making these issues a key focus during his presidency and later undertaking election monitoring missions worldwide.
State records indicate that Carter has been a consistently reliable voter, regularly participating in elections, primaries, and special elections. According to state election officials’ tracking, he has predominantly voted by mail over the past decade.
Georgia is one of the most competitive states in presidential elections, making it crucial for candidates to secure its votes. During his presidency, Carter recommended abolishing the Electoral College, and had that recommendation been implemented at the time, the significance of Georgia’s electoral outcomes might look very different today.
