Former US president Carter, nearing 100, excited to vote for Harris, grandson says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, 99, is eagerly awaiting his chance to cast a ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris this fall even as he approaches his 100th birthday, his grandson said on Wednesday.

Carter, a Democrat who served in the White House from between 1977 and early 1981, has been in hospice care for about 18 months and suffered the loss of his wife Rosalynn last year. But he remains "engaged" and wants to see the country move past former Republican President Donald Trump, Jason Carter told MSNBC.

"He's super aware," Jason Carter said. "Just recently, we were talking about his 100th birthday, and he said, 'Yeah, I'm excited about that, but I'm really excited to vote for Kamala Harris.'"

The former peanut farmer and nuclear submarine officer from Georgia has lived longer after his four-year term in office than any other U.S. president. He will turn 100 on Oct. 1, six days before the Southern state starts mailing out absentee ballots. Early in-person voting starts on Oct. 15.

"He's engaged, like a lot of people in Georgia, pretty energized by the current moment," Jason Carter said.

Harris faces a close race against Trump, who served from 2017 until early 2021 after losing his 2020 reelection bid to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Biden stepped aside last month and endorsed Harris, his vice president, for the nomination. Carter was also a one-term president after losing to Republican Ronald Regan in 1980.

Carter went gone on to earn a reputation that he has acknowledged is better than when he was president. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.

The Carter Center, led by his grandson, is planning a centennial celebration for the former president next month in Atlanta.

"His body is very physically diminished, but he's doing well," Jason Carter told MSNBC.

"He's sort of remarkably engaged in these moments, and is excited about the prospects that we have to sort of turn the page on this era that we've been living in with Donald Trump as sort of a constant presence in our politics."

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis)