This 102-year-old has never missed voting in an election. Here's why she wants you to vote this year

Hi. Yeah, we want to clear this up for you once and for all. So let's get going. What is the difference between an absentee ballot and a mail in ballot? Is one safer than the other? Lots of controversy. Here, let me walk you through this nice and easy. It's the way I like getting my information to first. It's important to understand this is nothing new. In fact, it's been around for over a century. Soldiers in the Civil War cast their vote back in 18 64. That's when Abraham Lincoln was re elected president in 2012. Look at this. 29.6 million people voted by mail in some form in 2016 the last presidential election. Look, that number jumped up to 33.6 million people. So yeah, it's been around. So the big question What is the difference between absentee ballots and mail in voting? Is one safer than the other? Let's go. Do you see this? This right here we are. It's an absentee ballot. If you can't make it to a polling location, you fill out an application with your excuse like you're deployed. The military or you have an illness forcing you to be home bound. But now most states are saying the Corona viruses a good enough reason. I just don't feel safe going good enough, and your state sends you an absentee ballot to cast your vote and mail it in. President Trump says. All good. He's all for absentee voting, and in fact, he's voted himself that way. But now the mail in voting. This is what the president has been complaining about. So what is mail in voting and what is the difference between that and absentee? Let me make a copy of the absentee ballot. We have the absentee ballot right here. Boom magic of TV. Make a copy. Bring it over here. So you see this? That's a ballot for mail in voting. This is an absentee ballot. There's no difference. It's the same thing. And that's not a political statement. There is no real difference. That's fact. It's the same ballot, how you send it in. Also the same this way. Brooke. That's my sound effect, and that's a mailbox. They both go in through the U. S. Postal Service, absentee and mail. In the Onley difference is how you get your ballot. All states allow some type of mail in voting. That's not a Republican thing. Or a Democratic thing is just a election thing this year. Some are making it easier. So where do you need to request an application for an absentee about? Let me hap out of the way here. I'm gonna come this way and show you all of those states. I'm gonna give you a second to find your own state. This is where you need to request an application. Now, let me hop back in. Change the map up, coming out of the way again. Show you the states where registered voters automatically get an application for a ballot. So basically, you forgot to request one. But you're a registered voter. You'll get the application. Hi, I'm back. Now, I want to give you another bucket of states. These states air saying if you're a registered voter, we know it's a crazy year. Will mail registered voters ballots automatically? No application, no eligibility requirement at all. You get a ballot in your hands and get in the way. Show you those states. These are those states. Take a look to see where you live, okay? Don't worry, it's all on Rossen reports dot com. We'll get to that, but I want to point this out, and this is important. You have to be a registered voter in all of these scenarios, no matter what. My 10 year old daughter isn't getting a ballot in the mail because she's a U. S citizen. It's not like balance for everyone. You already have to be a registered voter, so that's literally it. Mail in voting, absentee voting all done the same way. Either way, the U. S mail has to deliver your ballot. Either way, you have to be a registered voter. The ballot sold good of the same place and remember an absentee ballot and the mail in ballot. It's the same ballot number. Same ballot, no difference. I know it's a lot. There are a lot of states with all these differences and how they're doing things. We got you covered. No matter where you live, head over to Rawson reports dot com. We have put together a really easy state by state breakdown and a really cool interactive map, and we also have info on how you can request a ballot right now. I hope it helps back to you

Video above: What’s the difference between absentee ballots and mail-in ballots?Bea Lumpkin is 102 years old and has never missed an election as long as she's been eligible to vote.Not even a global pandemic could stop her from voting in this one.Lumpkin, a former Chicago public school teacher, dressed in personal protective equipment from head to toe to drop off her ballot for the 2020 presidential election at the mailbox last week. The Chicago Teachers Union, of which she was a member, shared the image.At her age, Bea's at high risk for becoming severely ill if she contracted coronavirus. But she would never have missed her chance to vote. She urges every registered voter in the U.S. to exercise their right, too."The most important reason to vote in this election is that there's so much at stake, more than any other vote I've cast, because of the great challenge to the survival of our democracy," Lumpkin told CNN.If she could vote this year, so can anyone who's registered, she said. And the retired educator knows better than most the value of voting. Here's why Bea Lumpkin, proud voter and centenarian, says it's so critical to vote in 2020.There's a lot on the lineMany of the issues Bea cares about are especially relevant in 2020: health care, racism and climate change among them. She believes in health care for every American; she wants to see reforms in law enforcement to end brutality and racism in policing; and she warns of the destruction wrought by climate change, such as the wildfires that burned down her son's California home.She's also very over living through the pandemic, and she disagrees with the ways in which science has been undermined by the president and other federal officials charged with leading the pandemic response. She once taught biology, she said, and she's a "great respecter" of the advances scientists have made since her birth."I'm sick and tired of this pandemic, and we'll never get rid of it unless we follow the experience of so many other countries, of the advice of science," she said.She misses her daily trips to her local YMCA, where she'd work out everyday before the pandemic. She misses hugging her grandkids and seeing her friends and getting out of the house every once and awhile.Her hairdo has also suffered as a result of the pandemic, she says."I wear my hair short, and it's so long now — it's going down my back!" she joked.2020 is also, she points out, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women (mostly white women, at the time) the right to vote. A lifelong feminist, Bea encourages women to vote not only to mark that anniversary but to protect their rights."Women still have so many additional reasons to vote because in this election, all rights that women have won in the hundred-odd years I've been on earth — they're all on the line," she said. "But then, this fight for our rights is much older than we are — it's even older than I am."Voting by mail was simple, she saysIn a typical election year, Bea would vote early, usually at the YMCA where she worked out daily pre-pandemic. But this year, it was safest for her to vote by mail, she said.Her ballot was received within 48 hours of submission, a process she tracked online, she said. It was a quick and simple way to vote, and she's wearing a big "I Voted" button this week to celebrate.She knows many voters are anxious about mail-in voting due to the misinformation that surrounds it, so she encourages voting early to avoid crowds on Election Day. She's seen lines for early voting in Chicago stretch around an entire city block — and she's "very proud of everyone coming out," she says.2020 might be the most important election of her lifetimeLumpkin has lived — and voted — through some of the most pivotal periods in American history: the Great Depression and World War II, the civil rights movement and the end of segregation, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, threats of terrorism and financial crises to the present, with questions now on how the U.S. will emerge from the pandemic.It's essential to vote this year to determine what that future will look like, she says.Lumpkin, a staunch supporter of labor unions, makes a point about wealth inequality in the U.S. as one reason to vote — "You're not getting the value of the work you do. So unless you own everything, it's to your interest to have more equality."And in spite of all the pain of this year, she's hopeful for the future."There's a possibility of correcting so many of the wrongs if we have an overwhelming vote for our democratic rights," she said. "We don't want to just restore what we had before. And people who aren't interested in voting usually think it's not going to make a difference. And this time it can make such a big difference, not only in preventing the loss of the freedoms that we do have ... but we can gain so much. There's so much good in people that could come out if it had the chance."As for the result of the 2020 election, she's both "scared to death" and "excited about the possibility of creating a much better country.""I want to see everybody who's coming out to vote to stay involved in the process — that's the way we can make huge advances for working people," she said.She's especially proud of American youth, whom she believes will fight for a fair future."I have great confidence in young people, and I know they're going to do what needs to be done," she said. "So hooray for the youth!"She's got decades on this election's first-time voters, but at 102, Bea's done her fair share for democracy, too.

Video above: What’s the difference between absentee ballots and mail-in ballots?

Bea Lumpkin is 102 years old and has never missed an election as long as she's been eligible to vote.

Not even a global pandemic could stop her from voting in this one.

Lumpkin, a former Chicago public school teacher, dressed in personal protective equipment from head to toe to drop off her ballot for the 2020 presidential election at the mailbox last week. The Chicago Teachers Union, of which she was a member, .

Good morning! This is 102-year-old CTU retiree Bea Lumpkin casting her vote-by-mail ballot. If Bea can do it, anyone can do it. Vote!
— Chicago Teachers Union (@CTULocal1)

At her age, Bea's at high risk for becoming severely ill if she contracted coronavirus. But she would never have missed her chance to vote. She urges every registered voter in the U.S. to exercise their right, too.

"The most important reason to vote in this election is that there's so much at stake, more than any other vote I've cast, because of the great challenge to the survival of our democracy," Lumpkin told CNN.

If she could vote this year, so can anyone who's registered, she said. And the retired educator knows better than most the value of voting. Here's why Bea Lumpkin, proud voter and centenarian, says it's so critical to vote in 2020.

There's a lot on the line

Many of the issues Bea cares about are especially relevant in 2020: health care, racism and climate change among them. She believes in health care for every American; she wants to see reforms in law enforcement to end brutality and racism in policing; and she warns of the destruction wrought by climate change, such as the wildfires that burned down her son's California home.

She's also very over living through the pandemic, and she disagrees with the ways in which science has been undermined by the president and other federal officials charged with leading the pandemic response. She once taught biology, she said, and she's a "great respecter" of the advances scientists have made since her birth.

"I'm sick and tired of this pandemic, and we'll never get rid of it unless we follow the experience of so many other countries, of the advice of science," she said.

She misses her daily trips to her local YMCA, where she'd work out everyday before the pandemic. She misses hugging her grandkids and seeing her friends and getting out of the house every once and awhile.

Her hairdo has also suffered as a result of the pandemic, she says.

"I wear my hair short, and it's so long now — it's going down my back!" she joked.

2020 is also, she points out, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women (mostly white women, at the time) the right to vote. A lifelong feminist, Bea encourages women to vote not only to mark that anniversary but to protect their rights.

"Women still have so many additional reasons to vote because in this election, all rights that women have won in the hundred-odd years I've been on earth — they're all on the line," she said. "But then, this fight for our rights is much older than we are — it's even older than I am."

Voting by mail was simple, she says

In a typical election year, Bea would vote early, usually at the YMCA where she worked out daily pre-pandemic. But this year, it was safest for her to vote by mail, she said.

Her ballot was received within 48 hours of submission, a process she tracked online, she said. It was a quick and simple way to vote, and she's wearing a big "I Voted" button this week to celebrate.

She knows many voters are anxious about mail-in voting due to the misinformation that surrounds it, so she encourages voting early to avoid crowds on Election Day. She's seen lines for early voting in Chicago stretch around an entire city block — and she's "very proud of everyone coming out," she says.

2020 might be the most important election of her lifetime

Lumpkin has lived — and voted — through some of the most pivotal periods in American history: the Great Depression and World War II, the civil rights movement and the end of segregation, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, threats of terrorism and financial crises to the present, with questions now on how the U.S. will emerge from the pandemic.

It's essential to vote this year to determine what that future will look like, she says.

Lumpkin, a staunch supporter of labor unions, makes a point about wealth inequality in the U.S. as one reason to vote — "You're not getting the value of the work you do. So unless you own everything, it's to your interest to have more equality."

And in spite of all the pain of this year, she's hopeful for the future.

"There's a possibility of correcting so many of the wrongs if we have an overwhelming vote for our democratic rights," she said. "We don't want to just restore what we had before. And people who aren't interested in voting usually think it's not going to make a difference. And this time it can make such a big difference, not only in preventing the loss of the freedoms that we do have ... but we can gain so much. There's so much good in people that could come out if it had the chance."

As for the result of the 2020 election, she's both "scared to death" and "excited about the possibility of creating a much better country."

"I want to see everybody who's coming out to vote to stay involved in the process — that's the way we can make huge advances for working people," she said.

She's especially proud of American youth, whom she believes will fight for a fair future.

"I have great confidence in young people, and I know they're going to do what needs to be done," she said. "So hooray for the youth!"

She's got decades on this election's first-time voters, but at 102, Bea's done her fair share for democracy, too.

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