Oliver says he 'nearly burst into tears.'
John Oliver is opening up about his heartwarming voting experience.
The British Last Week Tonight host appeared on The Late Show on Monday, and spoke to host Stephen Colbert about voting for the first time in a United States presidential election after he became an American citizen last December. Oliver said he "nearly burst into tears" after voting.
"It was honestly, it was amazing," Oliver said. "As an immigrant who had just got his citizenship in December of last year, I was waiting for that to feel real -- when you worry about your immigration status all the time and even getting your passport still doesn't feel real because you haven't tested it against a system."
Oliver wasn't prepared for his emotional response.
"Standing in line, I thought maybe this will be it and I didn't feel it," he continued. "Giving them my name and getting the ballot, I didn't feel it. Scanning it into the machine and the machine saying, 'Your vote has been counted,' I nearly burst into tears. That is the truth. My eyes got misty. I thought, 'I don't know if I can cry in a voting station.'"
Oliver isn't the only celebrity who's voting for the first time in the 2020 presidential election. In October, Selena Gomez joined La La Land director Damien Chazelle for an hourlong #VotingPowerHour as part of the All In Campus Democracy Challenge -- during which she and the thousands of people watching used Outvote to text friends and family members about voting -- and revealed she had never voted before.
"Honestly, I'm not ashamed to say this, but... I'm kind of... This was my first time,” she shared. “This is so true and I'm now admitting it to people: my vote counts."
"When I got my ballot, I got really excited, like feeling part of it,” she added. “We want people to use their voice."
Election Day is today! Please visit Vote.org to find your polling place and more information. Check out all the latest on how to watch election coverage and follow along for election night results.
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