102-year-old woman who has never missed an election puts on PPE to send in her ballot

(Image credit: Facebook/Chicago Teachers Union)

published 7 October 2020

Bea Lumpkin has voted in every election since 1940, and nothing was going to stop her from casting a ballot in 2020.

The 102-year-old retired teacher from Chicago put on personal protective equipment (PPE) and took a short walk to a neighborhood mailbox, where she had her grandson take a photo showing her about to drop off her ballot. "If I could come out at the age of 102 and face a pandemic [to vote], nobody should have an excuse," Lumpkin told Good Morning America.

The photo of Lumpkin was shared by the Chicago Teachers Union and quickly went viral, with people praising Lumpkin for doing her civic duty. "There's a lot at stake," she said. Lumpkin thinks the next generation will turn out at the polls to push forward change, telling GMA, "I have a lot of confidence in the young people."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.