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They Waited 96 Years To Vote For The First Woman Major-Party Nominee

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This election is going to go down in history for many reasons, but one reason that hasn't gotten as much attention as some people think it should is that a woman is running for president on a major party ticket for the first time. And while that's not a big deal for everybody, for many it really is, especially for women who were born before women could vote at all.

ESTELLE SCHULTZ: It's an absolute thrill because I want a woman to lead the United States of America like Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Theresa May. I think they would be a wonderful triad to lead the world.

MARTIN: That's 98-year-old Estelle Schultz. She's a Clinton supporter and made it a point to have her picture taken after she filled out her absentee ballot.

SCHULTZ: I wanted to send it to my granddaughter Sarah so that she could see that I voted.

MARTIN: That granddaughter is Sarah Benor, who went on to post the picture on Facebook. And you can guess what happened next - it went viral.

SARAH BENOR: It received over 1,600 likes and many comments about how moving that is, how it was bringing people to tears, how they wanted to share it with their children or grandchildren.

MARTIN: One of Benor's friends commented on the post that she should turn this idea into a project, and so she did. The website is called "I Waited 96 Years," and it features women born before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote, was adopted in 1920. Many of the women who sent in their photos said they wanted to mark the moment for the same reason that Schultz did.

SCHULTZ: This is what thrills me the most, that I'm still alive and able to do this.

MARTIN: Since last month, nearly 100 women have joined her in saying, I waited 96 years to vote for a woman in striking distance of becoming president. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR Staff