Women voters over 50 are a crucial voting bloc in the upcoming election
Aug 18, 2022, 2:00 PM
CLINTON, Utah — A new survey from AARP revealed that women voters over 50 are a crucial part of the election turnout.
Danny Harris, advocacy director at AARP said that in the last two elections women over 50 made up 30% of the overall voter turnout.
“We know that Americans 50 plus are the nation’s most powerful voting bloc,” he said.
The survey also revealed, when surveyed in April that only 17% of women over 50 knew who they would be voting for in November.
About two-thirds of these voters said they would not be making that decision until a few weeks before election day.
But for Clinton resident, Martha Autrey-Collins, “I’ve already made up my mind because this is what I do. I’m retired.”
Autrey-Collins said that she watches the news, keeps up on current events, and researches the candidates on every side to make an informed decision.
The survey found that women over 50, like Autrey-Collins care more about solutions than party affiliation.
“I don’t just go in blindly and just say, okay, this name sounds good, so I’m just going to vote for that person or because he’s affiliated with this particular party, I really, truly vote depending upon where they stand for as far as representing the people and what I believe in,” she said.
The survey also asked what issues are most important to voters 50 plus, the top thing on those voters’ minds is the economy.
“They are particularly concerned about inflation and rising prices and the impacts that it’s having on their lives, their ability to manage their household budgets, and what that’s doing to their retirement savings as well,” Harris said.
That’s a big concern of Autrey-Collins as well, she said as a baby boomer she worries about the future of social security.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll have enough. But there’s so many of us that I don’t know if there’s going to be enough for the millennials when they come along because they’re a big population as well,” she said.
You can see the full survey results here.
