Great-grandmother, 82, votes for the first time in her life, passes away days later

An 82-year-old lady, who just became a US citizen, got to vote for the first time in her life a few days before she passed away.

The great-grandmother is from Texas but had never registered to vote before. Gracie Lou Phillips was living in a Hospice.

She was suffering from severe pneumonia. However, she did not let it stop her from getting to the polls and casting her vote.

She dragged her portable oxygen tank to a polling station in Grand Prairie. She cast her vote for the midterm elections on Thursday.

Her granddaughter, Michelle Phillips explained that Gracie had never registered because the world was different in 1951. With seven children to raise and she also had to work, Gracie had merely been too busy to go vote.

But this year, she was determined to get around to it finally. Michelle believes her great-grannies goal to vote helped her to fight her illness for so long.

Even though she eventually lost her fight with her illness, the brave grandmother managed to fulfill her goal before she did. Poll workers made the entire experience very easy for Gracie.

They brought the poll to the parking lot so that Gracie could stay in the car with her oxygen tank. They also helped block out the windscreen to ensure her vote would be secret.

"She was very proud, and she kept saying, 'I voted. Did you vote? Who did you vote for?" Leslie Moore, also her granddaughter, said.

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In a related story, another grandmother, Mariam, also cast her first vote ever. She had been living in America for 43 years.

After recently being granted citizenship, she cast her vote for the first time. When she had first moved to America, she focused on finding work.

She had immigrated with her husband and newborn daughter to find a better life. Coming from a country that was run by oppressive politicians, she had shied away from politics.

At the age of 70, she voted for the first time. After she voted, she excitedly told her daughter, “Yes, I did. I finally did it.”