--- description: Guadalupe Portillo, a 102-year-old immigrant, voted in a national election for the first time on Tuesday. title: 2014 Midterms Old Voter: 102-Year-Old Votes For First Time image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5d803bacc5acaed/6987642455a85929e6a8393d/2014-election.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2014 Election](/tag/2014-election/) ## 2014 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 102-Year-Old Votes in U.S. for the First Time  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 4, 2014 7:39 PM CUT  Voters fill out their ballots in a gym on election day at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. Voters fill out their ballots in a gym on election day at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Albany, N.Y.Mike Groll—AP  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 4, 2014 7:39 PM CUT Midterm elections are known for low turnout and widespread voter apathy, but for centenarian Guadalupe Portillo, “inaction is not an option.” The 102-year-old voted in a national American election for the first time on Tuesday. “It’s never too late,” she told NBC Los Angeles. “Here I am at my age still fighting, and you won’t even vote?” Portillo moved to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s and attained U.S. citizenship last year. She told NBC that she counts immigration reform among the issues that inspired her to get to the polls. \[[_Today_](http://www.today.com/news/its-never-too-late-says-102-year-old-voting-her-1D80265959 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3556682/102-year-old-first-vote/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3556682/102-year-old-first-vote/"},"headline":"102-Year-Old Votes in U.S. for the First Time","datePublished":"2014-11-04T19:39:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:13:01.070Z","description":"'It's never too late'","url":"https://time.com/3556682/102-year-old-first-vote/","keywords":["2014 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5d803bacc5acaed/6987642455a85929e6a8393d/2014-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5d803bacc5acaed/6987642455a85929e6a8393d/2014-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APTOPIX America Votes","caption":"APTOPIX America Votes","creditText":"Mike Groll—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2014-election/","name":"2014 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3556682/102-year-old-first-vote/","name":"102-Year-Old Votes in U.S. for the First Time"}}]}] ```