104-year-old Syracuse man casts his 21st Presidential ballot
SYRACUSE – The first time Samuel Bovalino, 104, of Syracuse, cast a vote in a Presidential election the year was 1940.
That election resulted in the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to an unprecedented third term in the White House.
“I do believe in voting, it is a wonderful thing and very important that you do it every time,” Bovalino said from the front of his Tipperary Hill home as he waited to be picked up to go to his polling station.
Twenty-one Presidential elections after his first experience choosing an American President, Bovalino sat at an election desk inside the old Saint Patrick’s School and spent time carefully filling out the circles on his ballot.
His favorite President in his lifetime was John F. Kennedy, he said. About today’s Presidential candidates he won’t reveal his choice, and won’t say anything bad about either of the major party candidates.
“It’s hard for me to say anything bad about anyone – I let my vote speak to that,” he said.
Editorial note: Bovalino did not wear a mask when he voted. His son cited a doctor’s guidance for medical reasons.
