County rejects veteran's vote

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A Williamson County veteran is challenging the local election board after he was told his mail-in vote in the recent primary election was not counted.

Alfred Dula, 90, received a notice in the mail after the March 4 primary election. The notice said the signature on his ballot did not match the one on his application and therefore could not be counted.

"It did bother me," said Dula. "It bothered the hell out of me."

Dula, a decorated World War II veteran, applied to vote by mail in January, because he relies on a walker to get around and cannot stand in the lines on election day.

"I got the ballot and everything went beautifully and I filled it out with my choices and I signed it," said Dula. "And then I get this notice back."

Dula admitted he uses two signatures, one with his full name and the other with his initials, and mistakenly signed the wrong one on his ballot.

"We obviously want every vote to count- it seems to be an unfortunate situation," said Jenifer Favreau, the mail-in ballot coordinator for Williamson County. "The signatures on the applications, as well as the signature on the ballot do need to match. Its important to sign your signature the same way on all the official materials that you sign to our office."

The Williamson County ballot board inspects every ballot and said this problem is not all that common. They are typically able to account for small changes in a person's signature, but said Mr. Dula's were so different, they could not determine they came from the same hand.

"I think my vote should be as valid as anybody," said Dula. "I'm not illegal- I never have been. I want my vote to be counted- its not that much- its only one, but many ones make a total of thousands."

Dula said he will likely go back to voting in person if he is able.