RALEIGH – Ellie Kinnaird stepped out of the District 23 senate seat in August, but AARP recently recognized her as the Legislator of the Year.

“She has been a champion for issues facing older adults for many years,” says State Director of AARP North Carolina, Doug Dickerson. “Now she’s out hitting the roads and helping people understand what the Voter ID law means to them. She’s just been a champion for many years, and we’re thankful for the service she gave.”

Representative Nelson Dollar of District 36 representing Wake County also received this year’s Legislator of the Year award from AARP.

Kinnaird says she’s honored to receive the recognition and in turn very thankful for the help with the work she’s doing to support voting rights.

“They were able to get a very helpful change in the voting law for seniors,” Kinnaird says. “That is, you know you have to have this photo ID in 2016, but if you stop driving, you can get a special ID, or if you have a driver’s license when you’re 70, you can keep that and vote forever—for the rest of your life.”

AARP held a press conference last week outlining the five areas of greatest concern for older adults in North Carolina. And Kinnaird says she agrees that voting isn’t the only item that needs attention.

“What’s interesting is there are more people over 65 than children in school now—or at least in the early grades,” Kinnaird says. “So, it’s something we have to deal with; this is a fact; we are getting older. Older people do need more care, but thank goodness for both Social Security and Medicare, because that means that there are safety nets and help for the people who are older.”

For more information about AARP, click here.

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