Jeanne Davis wasn’t going to leave Fredericksburg without a photo.
No sooner had Davis’ 18-year-old daughter, Laura, cleared the ramp outside the Dorothy Hart Community Center around 10 a.m. Tuesday than she whipped out her cell phone to memorialize the occasion.
Laura Davis appeased her mother by posing somewhat sheepishly in front of a curbside voting placard and yellow crime scene tape with the words “no campaigning beyond this point.” In her right hand, the University of Mary Washington freshman displayed the first “I voted” sticker of her civic career.
Davis, an Ashburn native, said she first realized the importance of her vote after taking a women and gender studies class during her senior year at Rock Ridge High School in Loudoun County.
“My vote counts towards something that protects me,” she said. “By voting for Kamala Harris, I want to protect my autonomy.”
Laura Davis, 18, was one of several first-time voters to cast a ballot at the Dorothy Hart Community Center on Tuesday morning. (Submitted photo)
By contrast, fellow first-time voter Kaden Crim took a more analytical approach to determining which candidates he’d support.
“I used ChatGPT to summarize things for me,” said Crim, 21. “Summarizing their policies and comparing the things I want to see.”
Crim, who also attends UMW, took advantage of same-day registration after arriving at Dorothy Hart on Tuesday morning. He listed inflation and domestic issues as his top priorities at the ballot box.
“All my friends talk about it a lot,” he said of the election, “and I figured it was irresponsible to not vote any longer until I got older.”
Age was just a number for Bridget, an elementary school teacher who voted Tuesday for the first time — at 27 years old.
“In college was the first time I was able to vote, and I didn’t really see the importance yet,” said Bridget, who requested to go by her first name while discussing her vote. “Then when Trump won, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this can actually happen.’”
When the most recent midterm elections came around, Bridget had recently moved and her registration wasn’t yet up to date.
“Somehow this ended up being my first one,” she said. “But I’m happy I did it.”
While Jeanne Davis was eager to witness her daughter’s civic milestone, she also had a practical reason for making the drive down from Ashburn, where she’d already cast her ballot.
“I had to be here to make sure she voted, number one,” she said with a smile. “And, number two — I had to give her a ride here.”
