by KIM HILSENBECK
Months ago, Pat Chisholm of Buda proved that one man can make a difference.
Just before the spring primary-runoff elections earlier this year, this Korean War-era veteran saw that the Hays County Commissioners were not going to have an early voting location in Buda because, they said, it would have been against state voting laws.
According to Chisholm, the commissioners said Buda residents could vote in Kyle, or even Dripping Springs.
But Chisholm said he thought the commissioners misinterpreted state voting law; they said one precinct couldn’t have more polling locations than another. The law says no precinct can have more than twice as many as another.
Chisholm wanted to make sure Buda residents had an equal opportunity to cast their votes.
“I objected to it because I felt like it wasn’t just (about) the right to vote, but ease of access,” Chisholm said in a recent interview.
Chisholm said he had the data to show that while there were more people in Kyle than in Buda – on paper anyway – Buda had more people who went to the polls in 2008.
To Chisholm, not having an early voting location in Buda was a problem, because people tend to vote if the location is convenient to where they live or work. Having to go to Kyle, according to Chisholm, would mean fewer people voting.
“You’re not going to drive to Dripping Springs or Kyle to vote if you live in Buda, are you?” he asked rhetorically.
He went before the commissioners court and got an early voting location added to Buda, though he said, because it was late in the game, it was only for one day.
He downplayed his involvement in the voting issue with a humbleness often seen in men of his generation.
“All I did was help correct the error,” he said. “It’s old news.”
After serving two years in the U.S. Army, from 1955-1957, but not in active combat, he doesn’t even consider himself a veteran. Yet he spent 16 months overseas as part of a group of replacement soldiers after the ceasefire.
Chisholm was a construction officer in Seoul, having started his military career in the 48th Field Artillery. He was a 2nd Lt. who graduated with a degree in engineering from Louisiana State University.
He and his wife settled in Buda about six years ago; they have a daughter who is a teacher in a local school.
