One 81-year-old woman became a first-time voter after years spent obeying her late husband, who didn’t want her to vote.
Until this year, Betty Cartledge had never voted in an election, believing her vote didn’t matter. “I’m going to vote for the first time in my life,” she told WSB-TV Atlanta outside the polls at an early voting location in Covington, Georgia, on Wednesday (October 16). “I’m 81 today, but Sunday I’ll be 82.”
Cartledge, who was voting in the 2024 US presidential election, said she had never done so before because her husband didn’t think she should. He died last year.
“I was so young and everything when we got married, I never really thought about it,” Cartledge told the outlet. “And then I got old, and I thought that it wouldn’t count to vote.”
Now, Cartledge believes voting is just as important at her age as it is for the younger generation.
Coming out of the polling booth, she was pleased, saying she’d likely “be back again” after the “neat” experience.
Cartledge’s big day made waves on social media with several users commenting on the momentous occasion. While many congratulated her on making it to the polls for the first time, others called out her late husband for discouraging her from voting.
“Wow, so glad she was able to vote at least once,” one person wrote on X/Twitter. “Amazing that men thought this way about our right to vote.”
81-Year-Old Covington woman votes for the first time https://t.co/iGGmmCseJq
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) October 16, 2024
“That’s so sad actually,” another said.
A third person noted how Cartledge is probably one of many women in America to let her husband dictate her right to vote. “How many women in America are there who are repressed by controlling husbands? Unfortunately, I have a feeling there are quite a few,” they argued.
Y'all need to listen to this incredible story about an 81-year-old women in Newton County, Georgia casting her vote for the first time. How many women in America are there who are repressed by controlling husbands? Unfortunately, I have a feeling there are quite a few. pic.twitter.com/fwlT8KybhZ
— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) October 17, 2024
This makes me think of my mother's mother, who explained away her non-participation by saying what difference does my one vote make. She was saintly in her personal life; she had to be to contend with my grandfather's stern authoritarianism.
— denny burt (@dennyburt8) October 18, 2024
“Misogyny is an insane thing for a woman who had the right to vote for her entire lifetime and never got to do it until now,” a fourth added.
misogyny is an insane thing for a woman who had the right to vote for her entire lifetime and never got to do it until now.. https://t.co/p8BJac3eIp
— ✨happy mal•loween ✨ (@stellarghouls) October 17, 2024
Amid all the slams against Cartledge’s late husband and misogyny, a few social media netizens pointed out the positive in her story.
A hopeful woman said: “This is wonderful. This election means so much, and it’s way bigger than what we ever thought.”
Vice President Kamala Harris will go head-to-head with Donald Trump in less than three weeks as Americans cast their votes in the 2024 election.
The race has only become tighter, with Harris just one point ahead of Trump in a new poll. The outcome of the election is anyone’s game.
