Excited boy, 18, with Down syndrome shouts ‘I’m a grown up!’ after casting his first election vote
An 18 year-old boy with Down syndrome excitedly exclaimed: ‘I’m a grown up!’ after casting his first ever vote for this year’s US presidential election. Dameon Moulton posted an absentee ballot close to his home in Powder Springs, Georgia, on Wednesday, accompanied by his mother Amanda Moulton.
Dameon said afterwards that he felt ‘excited’ and ‘happy’ at being able to cast his vote and help decide the result of the most dramatic presidential election in US history. His mother Amanda Moulton added: ‘That little “I Voted” sticker really made him feel like he was apart of society.
‘Everywhere we went people noticed and applauded him for voting. We’re so proud.’ Amanda said that Dameon began learning about politics in school this year, with his teachers explaining how the US government works, and what presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden stand for.
Dameon ended up voting for Joe Biden, after branding President Trump a ‘drama king.’ His mother – who is a Republican, and voted for Donald Trump – explained: ‘Dameon has endured his share of bullying. He would like a president that did not like to see people fighting against each other.
‘He thinks Trump is mean. He doesn’t like the negativity that Trump has displayed. He says Trump is a Drama King.’
Amanda, who spends her days caring for Dameon, hopes her son’s enthusiasm for the election will encourage other people with disabilities to use their vote too.
Speaking during Down syndrome awareness month, she said: ‘Hopefully other care givers and others with his disability realize that they are adults too.
‘Despite their differences they too can make a difference. Everyone has a voice and its okay to use it.’
Amanda and her husband Earl, 54, will spend next Tuesday and Wednesday watching election coverage with their son.
Their votes will all prove crucial in a swing state polls predict could switch from Trump’s Republican party to Biden’s Democrats for the first time since Bill Clinton won the 1992 election.
National polls forecast a Biden win, although President Trump insists he can repeat his surprise 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.
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