FAIRFAX, Va. (WJLA) – An 89-year-old Virginia woman is working the polls for her 85th election – she has done so most of her life.

Pauline Gearhart is her county’s longest-serving elections official. She is a familiar face to many, greeting voters as they arrive and sending them home with a little sticker to remember the 2024 election.

“I like helping people,” Gearhart said. “I was so happy to see so many people from other years.”

Gearhart said her passion for voting began when she was 5 years old.

“I went with my mom and thought it was so fun,” she said.

This mother-daughter tradition continued as her daughter, Beth Gearhart, also became an election official in her district.

“I knew it was inevitable that I would become an election official simply because my mother had instilled in all of her children that it was very important to serve your community,” Beth Gearhart said.

Beth Gearhart first served in the 1996 election when several agents failed to show up to help work the polls.

“She called the county and they said find someone you trust to replace him and so she grabbed me,” Beth Gearhart said.

Pauline Gearhart has no plans to retire anytime soon. She plans to work in elections for as long as she lives.

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