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georgia voting rights

It's never too late to make your voice heard.

On the eve of her 82nd birthday, Georgia woman Betty Cartledge did something she had never done before—she voted.

On Wednesday, Oct. 16, one day after early voting began in Georgia, local television station Channel 2 Action News spotted Cartledge on her way into a Newton County polling location in Atlanta.

That’s when she shared with the outlet, "I’m going to vote for the first time in my life.”

Why hadn’t this woman ever been to the ballot box? Because her longtime husband, who had also never voted before, discouraged the idea.


“I was so young and everything when we got married, I never really thought about it,” she said. “And then I got old and I thought that it wouldn’t count to vote.”

But after her husband died in April of 2023, and after (according to Good Morning America) seeing ever rising costs of living, Cartledge decided that this year, she’d do things differently.

However, there was still the challenge of not being able to read or write. For that, Cartledge relied on her niece Wanda Moore, who helped her register and accompanied her to the ballot box.


And when they arrived at the polling station, things went smoothly. "We went in and she told the lady I couldn't read and write, and she told her what to do," Cartledge recalled. "And I went over there, and I done it on my own. I done my own voting. I had nobody tell me who to vote for or what. She just showed me, read everything to me, and then I voted."

All in all, Cartledge dubbed it a “neat” experience, saying "If I'm here, I'll be back again."

She also shared with the Washington Post how it instilled a sense of patriotic pride, saying “It made me feel like I was American, and I was standing up for my rights.”

Moore has been equally thrilled with her aunt’s voting experience, and thinks it could inspire other older Americans that their voice counts.

“They are people too, and they matter,” she said.

It wasn’t long before Cartledge's big day began making the rounds on social media, where viewers both celebrated and mourned the occasion.





“Wow, so glad she was able to vote at least once,” one person wrote on X. “Amazing that men thought this way about our right to vote.”

Still another noted, “This is wonderful. This election means so much, and it’s way bigger than what we ever thought.”

All in all, Cartledge also hopes her story instills a bit of confidence in others from similar walks of life.

In her interview with Good Morning America, Cartledge stressed the importance of people who don't have the ability to read or write to not get discouraged, because “it's not an impossible thing," when you ask for help.

"Talk to [friends and family] and see if they'll help you out and go out there and do it. Do it for America. Do it for your country," Cartledge urged, adding that it's "never, ever" too late to vote.