97-year-old New Jersey woman has served on every Election Day since 1939

Laura Wooten worked her first Election Day in 1939, and hasn't missed one since.

The 97-year-old spent that day working as a challenger in her hometown of Princeton, New Jersey. "It was a little nerve-racking, but I think I managed the job decently," she told NBC News. "As a matter of fact, I liked it." She enjoyed being "close to this thing called democracy" and seeing people "express themselves" at the ballot box.

It's thought that Wooten is the country's longest continuously serving election worker, and over the last 79 years, she's been everything from a vote counter to a crowd manager. Her devotion to democracy has earned her recognition from the New Jersey League of Women Voters and Princeton University, where she still works part time.

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"When you are a 97-year-old black woman, this is a topic where you have a lot to say," she said. "You've seen a lot. I've seen a lot. You know that elections matter. Voting matters. And God willing, I'll be right there at the the Lawrence Road firehouse in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, helping out at the polls in 2020." Wooten would love to see more people sign up to serve as election workers, but at the very least, she asks that everyone who can goes out and votes. "Democracy is just a beautiful, beautiful thing," she said. Catherine Garcia