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Grandma made him do it: Waukesha 22-year-old votes for the first time

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A busy day at the polls as early voting wraps up in Waukesha. Among those casting a ballot are a good number of new voters.

The Waukesha Clerk Linda Gourdoux says in her 40-plus years of working elections she is seeing more and more young people come in to register to vote.

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Claudia Silva (left) stands next to her grandson, Kevin Silva. She brought him to the poll in Waukesha to vote for the first time.

“Are you registering to vote today?” asked TMJ4 News Reporter Rebecca Klopf.

“Yes,” answered Kevin Silva.

Rebecca was interviewing the 22-year-old about being a first-time voter when we noticed Grandma shaking her head along with his answers.

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Kevin Silva

“What motivated you? Was it the presidential race? Oh, Grandma is waving her hands, was it, Grandma,“ asked Rebecca.

“Yeah,” said Kevin.

“You got him to vote today?“ asked Rebecca.

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Claudia Silva, Kevin’s grandmother

'Yes because he didn't really want to,” said Claudia Silva, Kevin’s grandmother.

Kevin is one of thousands of new voters this year. The Waukesha City Clerk says they don't track the age or number of first-time voters but the clerk told us in her 40-plus years of elections she is seeing more young people registering.

Watch: Grandma made him do it: Waukesha 22-year-old votes for the first time

Grandma made him do it: Waukesha 22-year-old votes for the first time

But other states do track it and NBC News Decision Desk data finds big numbers of new voters in battleground states. Pennsylvania has seen 100,000 new voters cast ballots. It finds Pennsylvania is seeing more new Democratic female voters and Arizona is seeing more Republican male voters.

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Kevin Silva registers himself to vote in Waukesha.

As for Kevin, he is keeping his vote to himself. But he is happy to join the process.

"I'm excited, I can't wait,” said Kevin. “Everyone should vote.“

Early voting wraps up here in Waukesha at 5 p.m. on Friday. The final chance to vote in Waukesha will be Tuesday, Election Day.


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