King Walker and his grandmother, Flossie, think they may be the oldest and youngest couple to be voted Tuesday in Atlanta.
ATLANTA — Voter turnout in out-of-year elections is historically low, but two Atlanta residents weren’t going to let the opportunity pass.
King Walker and his grandmother, Flossie, think they may be the oldest and youngest couple to be voted Tuesday in Atlanta.
King turned 18 just two weeks ago, and Flossie is about to turn 94. He said that he cannot wait for his grandmother to join the election.
“When I was younger, I would always watch him leave,” said the Booker T Washington High School student.
He turned 18 on October 12 and to celebrate, he asked his nearly 94-year-old grandmother to come with him as he cast his first vote.
Voting has always been important to Flossie, even if she doesn’t know who she voted for in the first place.
But watching your grandson vote for the first time? She would remember it, stating that she was “very, very proud of him.”
King attended Democracy Now classes at age 17 through Atlanta Public Schools, Rock the Vote, AMB Sports & Entertainment, and the New Georgia Project because he wanted to learn about voting rights.
He said, “I was foruming at the APS and there were three candidates: Andre Dickens, Antonio Brown and Sharon Gay. So, we had to ask them questions and that affected who I was going to vote for.”
King said he did his homework and said he was ready for election day.
He said, “I was nervous and excited because I was voting for the first time. And you see all the names and people you talked about and discussed.”
Still, he was grateful that his grandmother was with him.
“It was exciting to see her come out and vote for the first time,” Flossie said of the day.
However, it was not all smooth for King. His premises did not receive his voter registration, so he had to vote by provisional ballot.
Even though there were no lines, it took her about an hour to complete the process, but she voted and said she was incredibly grateful for her grandmother to be with her.