By Stefan Becket
Former President Jimmy Carter cast his ballot in the presidential race in Georgia on Wednesday, the second day of early voting in his home state.
He voted by mail, the Carter Center said, fulfilling his wish to live long enough to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Carter turned 100 earlier this month, becoming the first former president in U.S. history to do so.
“President Carter, thank you for your support,” Harris wrote in a social media post Wednesday night.
He has been in hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023. Carter lost his wife, Rosalynn Carter, in November, after 77 years of marriage. The former president attended his late wife’s memorial service in a wheelchair.
Carter had told a family member that he was “only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,” according to his grandson, Jason Carter, who recounted the comment to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in August.
“He’s following the campaign, absolutely,” Jason Carter told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann in September. “And you know, when we asked him, was he excited about his 100th birthday, he said, I’m excited about that but I’m really excited to vote for Kamala Harris. And so he is still engaged, he’s still paying attention, and he’s, you know, he’s got his views.”
The former president has lived remarkably long in home hospice care, where the average length of time for patients is 63 days, according to the National Institutes of Health. Carter has been in hospice for more than 19 months.
Stefan Becket
Stefan Becket is a managing editor of politics for CBSNews.com. Stefan has covered national politics for more than a decade and helps oversee a team covering the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, immigration and federal law enforcement.
