Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly looking forward to voting for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.
Carter, 99, is the oldest living former president and has lived longer than any president in American history. Though the 39th president has been in hospice care since February 2023, he will soon have the opportunity to cast his vote for president in the crucial swing state of Georgia, which is also Carter’s home state.
Members of the Carter family previously told PEOPLE that the former president, who turns 100 on Oct. 1, has made peace with nearing the end of his life after an extended period in hospice care — but there’s reportedly still one bucket list item he hopes to accomplish.
According to his grandson Jason, Carter recently said, “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
If Carter decides to vote absentee — the most likely option, as he has not made a public appearance since November 2023 — his ballot will reach his Plains, Ga., home nearly a month before election day on Nov. 5.
Jimmy Carter’s last public appearance in November 2023 at the funeral for his wife, Rosalynn Carter.
ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty
The office of Voter Registration and Elections for Sumter County, Ga., tells us that absentee ballots will begin to be mailed on Oct. 7, and the deadline to register for an absentee ballot in Georgia is Oct. 25.
People eligible to receive absentee ballots in Georgia include students away at school, elderly people and disabled voters, among others, the office says.
When an absentee voter returns their ballot in Georgia, their vote gets locked in as soon as it’s processed by election officials.
“Once a ballot is removed from the envelope there is no way to trace a ballot back to an individual voter,” explains Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Jason Carter, chair of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees, with his grandfather Jimmy Carter in 2017.
David Goldman/AP
At the Democratic National Convention, Jason explained why he and the former president were throwing their support behind Harris.
“Kamala Harris carries my grandfather’s legacy,” he said on stage. “She knows what is right, and she fights for it. She understands that leadership is about service, not about selfishness. That you can show strength and demonstrate decency. And that you can get a whole lot more done with a smile than with a scowl.”
As Jason’s grandfather looks to vote in what the family acknowledges could be his final election, his son Henry — who just turned 18 — is looking forward to participating in his first. “I am excited about this year’s election because it will be my first time able to vote,” Henry told PEOPLE on Tuesday, Sept 17. “And that means a lot.”
Carter lived in the White House from 1977 to 1981. His wife, Rosalynn, died in November 2023 after she was diagnosed with dementia.
