|
November 06, 2007 12:21 am
|
Photos
Mark Vogler/Eagle-Tribune
|
Voting never gets too old for this centenarian
By Mark E. Vogler
CNHI News Service
LAWRENCE, Mass. — Anna French has an airtight alibi for not voting when she turned 18.
In 1919, women couldn't vote. She had to wait until the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1920 before she and other women could exercise their right to vote.
At almost 106 years old, French is the oldest voter ever in Lawrence, said Rafael Tejeda, the city's bilingual election coordinator. With several City Council and School Committee races to be won in Tuesday's city election, French encouraged people to get out there and perform their civic duty.
"It's a good thing to vote. I'm glad to be a citizen from Lawrence. You like to pitch in a bit," said French, who was born Nov. 30, 1901. "It was my duty to vote."
French has maintained an active voting status by casting absentee ballots. She said she is too old to physically show up to vote.
"I miss it, but I don't have anybody to take me anymore," French said, reflecting on the times when she rode to the polls with a relative or friend. "I'm 106 years old, so where am I going to get a friend to drive me now?"
When told that only 12 percent of the registered voters participated in the September preliminary election and barely 16 percent in the special Congressional election, French shakes her head in disbelief.
"I think it's wrong. If you live in the city, you should vote," French said. "If they like the city and like the state, they should vote. When you don't vote, you're not interested."
At this point in her life, French admits to not being as well-versed on the issues and the elected officials that she once followed closely. She doesn't stay up to watch City Council meetings. She doesn't read the newspaper anymore because of her failing eyesight.
But she remembers the days when it made her feel special to be able to go out and vote. Part of the fun of voting was researching each of the candidates ahead of time.
"I didn't just vote for any Tom or Dick. I'd vote for the man I wanted, the man I thought was right," she said. "Then if he comes in ... if he's a winner, I feel proud. I feel it's not for nothing. But, we live in a different world now."
French said she's been a longtime Republican, probably because of her late husband - Lyle Elliot French - who died in 1968. He was a boss at a factory where bobbins were manufactured for the textile industry.
"He voted all the time. And I voted as long as I could," she said. "We'd look forward to it."
So why does she cherish the privilege of voting so much and what kind of advice does she offer to the young generation?
"You felt big and important because you were doing something that was important. My advice to the young people? They should do their duty like we all did," she said.
If French gets to vote in next year's presidential election, she may get to vote for a female president - Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"If a woman is smart enough to put herself in that position, she's smart enough to get my vote," French said, noting that Lawrence has already had a couple of female mayors whom she may have voted for.
Mark E. Vogler writes for The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass. E-mail him mvogler@eagletribune.com
|
