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At 101, Albemarle woman casts ballot for first time
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Sep 30, 2008 12:55pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Tuesday, September 30, 2008 06:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | At 101, Sarah E. Williams might just be the oldest new voter in Virginia.
Williams, of Albemarle County, has lived through 25 presidential elections — from William Howard Taft in 1908 to George W. Bush in 2004 — but had never once voted in her century-long life.
Williams registered to vote Friday afternoon at the Albemarle County Registrar’s Office and cast an early ballot for Democrat Barack Obama.
“Well, we like that boy,” Williams said.
“Young man,” corrected her daughter Mildred Wilson.
Does she think Obama would make a good president?
“Mmm hmm, I do,” Williams replied. “He seems like a nice guy.”
Williams, who is black, was not able to vote in Virginia until the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965. She was 58 years old at the time. For the next 43 years, none of the presidential candidates gave her much reason to head to the polls. This year, however, as Williams watched Obama deliver speeches on TV, she decided that the right man had finally come along.
“She told us that she wanted to vote because she likes Barack’s looks,” said daughter Ann White of Silver Spring, Md. “I’m just proud of her that she’s finally doing it.”
Williams’ age may make her voter registration notable, but she is just one among thousands of newly registered voters this year in the battleground state of Virginia.
As of Sept. 15, there were 184,153 new voters added to the rolls across the state. The vast majority are younger than 25. Only 4.47 percent of the new voters are older than 65.
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