At 81, she just voted for the first time: ‘Made me feel like I was American’

Betty Cartledge walked into her local early voting station Wednesday to cast her ballot for the upcoming presidential election. At age 81, it was her first time voting.

“I had been thinking about it before, but I can’t read or write,” said Cartledge, who is turning 82 on Sunday. “I didn’t want to go in the booth and not know what to do.”

Plus, Cartledge’s late husband, a Korean War veteran who died in April 2023, never voted, and he didn’t see a need for his wife to, she said.

“I was married to him for 64 years; I knew everything about him. But that was something he never discussed and never wanted to do,” she said.

So, during every election season, she tried to put voting out of her mind.

It recently dawned on Wanda Moore, Cartledge’s niece, that her aunt may have never voted. Moore knew Cartledge can’t read, which can make voting more difficult and intimidating.

“I wondered if she’d ever registered to vote,” said Moore, who has voted in every presidential election since 1976, when she was first eligible.

She decided to ask her aunt.

Cartledge confirmed she had never cast a ballot. “She said she had thought about it many times but because she couldn’t read or write, she didn’t think her vote would count,” Moore said.

Moore told her aunt that every vote counts – including hers. She offered to take her to an early voting station in Covington, Georiga, where they both live. A record number of people turned out for early voting in Georgia this week, with about 600,000 just in the first two days.

“I took it for granted that anybody that was old enough to vote was certainly registered, and that’s not true,” she said. “I just thought it was something that everybody did.”

“I felt like I needed to help her because she wanted her vote to count at least once,” Moore added.

Cartledge was enthusiastically on board with the plan. About two weeks ago, Moore took Cartledge to register.

“I wanted to go, I really did,” Cartledge said. “I’m sorry I had waited so long. I wish I had done it before now.”

At the early voting station Wednesday, Moore helped Cartledge navigate and read aloud the voting information to her, including the names on the ballot.

“She didn’t tell me who to vote for. That was my choice,” Cartledge said.

Cartledge said the experience of casting her ballot was easier – and more emotional – than she had anticipated.

“It was amazing,” she said, adding: “If I could do it, other people who can’t read and write can do it, too. Now I’m not ashamed of it.”

Cartledge said it gave her a newfound sense of independence and pride.

“It made me feel like I was American, and I was standing up for my rights,” said Cartledge, who has lived in Georgia her whole life.

The experience was equally meaningful and memorable for Moore.

“She was so excited when she came out, it was unbelievable,” she said.

Moore thinks there are many other Americans like her aunt who perhaps don’t feel confident or capable enough to vote.

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

Seeing the smile on her aunt’s face after she cast her ballot, “it was just really something special,” Moore said.

Cartledge hopes her story – which was first reported by WSB-TV in Atlanta – encourages those who are on the fence about voting to make their voices heard.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are or how young you are, you need to get out there and speak your mind,” she said. “Your vote counts just as much as everybody else’s does.”

Cartledge is already looking ahead to the next presidential election.

“If I’m alive, I’m going to vote,” she said.