A 103-year-old Florida woman recounts her voting history. Here’s her story

Lillie Mae King Harper votes on Election Day

APOPKA, Fla. – In a journey through 10 decades of voting rights, 103-year-old Lillie Mae King Harper from Plymouth, Florida made her way to polls in Apopka on Election Day.

“I feel good, it makes me feel good,” Harper said.

Ms. Harper — an African American woman from the Deep South — cast her vote in the 2024 presidential election, a powerful testament to resilience, progress, and the unbreakable bond she shares with a democratic right she first exercised when former President Barack Obama ran for office in 2008.

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Born in 1921 in Georgia, Harper grew up in an era when racial segregation was the law of the land and voting rights for African Americans were almost nonexistent.

“Yes. Man, oh yes. I’ve seen a lot,” expressed Harper.

Lillie Mae King Harper votes in her fourth election in Apopka on Tuesday. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

She vividly remembers the hardships of Jim Crow, and how they once could only dream of having a say in the nation’s future.

Over the years, she has been a silent witness to history — the Civil Rights Movement, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the election of the first Black president, and now, a diverse array of candidates running for the highest office in the land.

For Mary Harper, her mother is an inspiration.

“It should be encouraging to others, to the other ones, the young people, come out and vote”, Mary said. “Make it count!”

As she took her ballot on Tuesday, Her voice, though soft, held an unmistakable power as she spoke of the importance of “showing up”, a message to all.

“I’d tell them to come out and vote,” Harper said.

In an election that promises to shape America’s future, Ms. Harper remains a powerful symbol of a past that should never be forgotten and a present where, at 103, her vote still matters.

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