Jimmy Carter, who turned 100 on October 1 and has been undergoing palliative care since February 2023, sent his vote on Wednesday (16), according to Jason Carter, grandson of the former president.
Jason, the president of the Carter Center, told the New York Times that his grandfather’s ballot had been dropped off in a collection box at a local courthouse.
For weeks, according to the Carter family, the former president had been secretly downplaying the possibility of becoming a centenarian. Instead, he was more keen to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Under Georgia law, Oct. 7 was the first day county clerks could distribute ballots. Electoral authorities began sending them to military personnel and foreigners last month. Georgia’s early in-person voting period began on Tuesday (15), and organizers reported a record turnout.
The state is likely to be one of seven states that will determine the final outcome of the elections. On Tuesday, a judge temporarily blocked a state rule that required manual counting of ballots. The measure was approved on September 20 by Georgia’s electoral board, which is made up of supporters of former President Donald Trump. According to them, the rule is an attempt to make elections more secure.
In his ruling, Judge Robert McBurney said the change would add new uncertainty to the process just weeks before Election Day. With the measure approved in September, three workers from each of the state’s 6,500 precincts will have to manually count the votes after the automated count.
“Anything that adds uncertainty and chaos to the electoral process is harmful to the public,” said an excerpt of the court’s decision published by Democracy Docket, a website founded by Democratic lawyer Mark Elias that tracks election cases.
Representatives of the Georgia State Board of Elections and the Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.
With Reuters and the New York Times
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