99-year-old Pekin woman has voted in presidential elections since 1944

Steve Stein

Journal Star

Harriet Harris, 99, of Pekin, waits her turn during early voting at the Tremont Community Center Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women's suffrage. Harris was several months shy of being born when her mother first gained the legal right to vote, a right earned after a century of protests and advocacy.

TREMONT — Harriet Harris has done her civic duty since 1944, voting in every presidential election over the last 76 years.

Now 99 years old, the lifelong Pekin resident voted Friday during early voting for the Nov. 3 election at the Tremont Community Center.

She drove herself to the Community Center with her niece, Jody Drury of Pekin. Drury said she selected the Tremont site for her aunt to vote because there’s easy access from the parking lot and she didn't think it would be crowded.

There was a steady stream of voters on the chilly, cloudy afternoon, but very little wait time.

Spry and mentally sharp, Harris listened intently and followed the instructions of election workers.

She used a stylus to tap a screen with her votes. She had studied a sample ballot earlier, so she knew her choices before going to the polls.

After she finished voting, a few election workers and voters clapped politely. Smiles could be seen through their masks.

There were a couple bumps in Harris' voting road.

"The electronic age has passed me by. I had to ask for help a couple times when I voted," she said with a smile.

One time, she accidentally tapped the area for a write-in vote for president. She definitely was not writing in a candidate for this presidential election.

The lifelong Republican said she voted for a Democrat presidential candidate for the first time. She voted for Joe Biden.

"I just don't like (Donald) Trump," she said. "He thinks he's so smart. He's not."

She did vote for several Republicans on the down ballot.

Democrat Hillary Clinton didn't get Harris' vote for president in 2016. But neither did Trump. She did vote for other races in that election, though.

Harris recalled that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the Democrat candidate for president in the Nov. 7, 1944 presidential election.

"I didn't vote for him. I'm a Republican," she said.

She couldn't recall the name of the Republican presidential candidate that year (it was Thomas Dewey.) Roosevelt defeated Dewey soundly and earned his fourth term.

Women gained the right to vote in the United States in 1919 when Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Elsie Winkel, Harris' mother, was pregnant with Harris and living in Pekin during the historic Nov. 2, 1920 presidential election — the first in which women could vote. Harris was born Jan. 18, 1921.

"We can't find any record of it, but we think Elsie voted in the 1920 presidential election," said Drury, who wore a mask Friday that had the word “Vote” on it.

"My mother probably voted in that election," Harris said.

Harris and her late father Oscar Winkel owned the iconic Reuling's department store in downtown Pekin that is no longer in business.

Her husband Walter is deceased.

To what does Harris attribute her long life?

"Good genes," she said. "My father lived until he was 96 and my mother lived until she was 81."

Steve Stein can be reached at (248) 224-2616 or stevestein21@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpartanSteve.

Early voting sites and times

Early voting will be conducted at the following sites and times locally:
TAZEWELL COUNTY
County Clerk's Office, 11 S. 4th St., Suite 203: Saturday, Oct. 24 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Oct. 26-30 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Nov. 2-3 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Morton Township, 300 W. Jefferson St.: Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Washington Township, 58 Valley Forge Road: Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Folepi Marketplace in East Peoria, 2200 E. Washington St.: Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tremont Community Center, 216 S. Sampson St.: Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
PEORIA COUNTY
Alpha Park Public Library, 527 Airport Rd., Bartonville: Oct. 24 and 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Chillicothe Public Library, 430 N. Bradley Ave.: Oct. 28-29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dunlap Public Library, 302 1st St.: Oct. 24 and 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Elmwood Methodist Church, 821 W. Main St.: Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Kickapoo Township Hall, 10025 U.S. Route 150: Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Peoria Public Library - Downtown, 107 NE Monroe: Oct. 28-30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Nov. 1 from noon to 3 p.m.
Election Commission offices, 4422 Brandywine Dr., Peoria: weekdays through Nov. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Election Day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
WOODFORD COUNTY
County Courthouse, 115 N. Main St., Room 104, Eureka: Oct. 26-28 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m; Oct. 29-30 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to noon; Nov. 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

With just a few pointers from an election judge at the Tremont Community Center polling place Friday, October 23, 2020, Harriet Harris, 99, of Pekin, masters using the stylus on her first time using an electronic voting machine. While Harris votes in each election, in the year of the 100th anniversary of historic legislation affirming women's right to vote, Harris drove herself, with her niece in tow, to Tremont from her home in Pekin with an added sense of priority. Harris was just several months shy of being born when her mother first gained the legal right to vote.