'My husband told me never to vote - now I'm 81 and doing it for the first time after he died'

An 81-year-old woman cast her ballot for the first time after her husband who didn't think she should vote died.

Betty Cartledge, from Georgia, finally voted for the first time in her life after early voting began in Georgia. After being spotted by local Channel 2 Action News, Cartledge explained she was casting her ballot just four days before tuning 82.

Accompanied by her niece, Wanda Moore, she explained that voting had been discouraged by her long-time husband. "I was so young and everything when we got married, I never really thought about it," she told the network.

"And then I got old and I thought that it wouldn't count to vote. But following her husband's death last year, Georgia's positioning as a key swing state in the generated a national conversation that Cartledge became interested in.

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But Cartledge faced another hurdle when it came to voting as she cannot read, making voting much harder. "She said she had thought about it many times but because she couldn't read or write, she didn't think her vote wouldn't count," Moore told the .

At the early voting station in Newton County, part of the greater Atlanta area, Moore helped her aunt go over the names on the ballot and read them aloud. But Cartledge said it was her final choice to decide who to vote for.

Bursting with patriotic pride, Cartledge said the experience was deeply meaningful. "It made me feel like I was an American, and I was standing up for my rights," she added.

Georgia is a crucial swing state where the Democrats and Republicans are pouring resources in with the hope of winning the state's 16 electoral college votes. In the Presidential Election, held on November 5, each state is awarded a numerical value.

The candidates then battle to turn states red or blue and get to the all important simple majority of 270, giving them the keys to the White House. This year will hope to return to the presidency while Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris would become the first woman and person of Indian decent to occupy the top job should she win.

Polls in Georgia are tight, reflecting the close nature of this year's race. According to polling aggregate website FiveThirtyEight, Mr Trump holds a 1.6 per cent advantage over Ms Harris, well within the margin of error.

On the national level Harris is performing better, although the race is still incredibly tight. put Ms Harris on 48.5 per cent compared to Mr Trump on 46.1 per cent making the race one of the closest in recent American history.

Voting records have already been broken in this election cycle with hundreds of thousands already casting their ballot early.