WATCH: Constitutional Officers Help 94-year-old Korean War Veteran Vote

Jim Walter Cast His Ballot with the help of Tim Bobanic, Lisa Cullen and Dana Blickley

WATCH: Brevard County Constitutional Officers Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic, Tax Collector Lisa Cullen, and Property Appraiser Dana Blickley worked together on election day to help 94-year-old Korean War Veteran Jim Walter cast his ballot. On Wednesday, Bobanic, Cullen, and Blickley met with Walter at his residence and presented him with two Challenge Coins and a Veterans Pin.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA—Less than 22% of active eligible voters in Brevard County turned out to cast their ballots on April 1, 2025, in the Special Primary Election.

However, this story is not about the 39,028 people who voted but about one person in particular who cast his ballot.

Jim Walter is a 94-year-old Korean War Veteran who currently lives in Viera. How he was able to cast a ballot on Tuesday, April 1, is a tribute to a group of people who went above and beyond to ensure that he was able to exercise his constitutional right.

The word ‘constitutional’ is key to this story because it involves the Brevard County Constitutional Officers who banded together to help Walter, Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic, Tax Collector Lisa Cullen, and Property Appraiser Dana Blickley.

Tuesday morning, Walter contacted the Supervisor of Elections office and was told he needed one current form of identification to vote.

Because Walter’s driver’s license had recently expired, he had no valid identification. Bobanic spoke directly with Walter and reviewed a list of acceptable forms of identification that would allow Walter to vote, but unfortunately, Walter had none.

Bobanic then told Walter that he could vote on a provisional ballot but still needed a valid form of ID for his ballot to count. If they could match his signature to be certain that he was who he said he was, then his provisional ballot would count. Unfortunately, this was not going to be an option because, due to health reasons, his signature had changed over the years.

That is when Bobanic went into action. He knew Walter could only vote if he had a valid Florida ID card. He phoned Cullen and told her, “We need to do whatever we can to help this gentleman out to make sure he can cast a ballot today.”  Cullen told Bobanic that her office could make that happen.

Cullen was ‘matter of fact’ when she told me, “We were going to get that man real-ID compliant and ready to go.”

Bobanic then called Blickley and spoke with her. Blickley is the staunchest supporter of Veterans in the state of Florida. Among the many Veterans organizations she is involved with, Blickley is a board member of the National Veterans Homeless Support (NVHS) and is intimately involved in Veterans affairs.

Cullen made an appointment for Walter to go to the Tax Collector’s office on Tuesday afternoon. He did so and was issued a Florida ID card. At 4:24 p.m. Korean War Veteran Jim Walter voted.

Many people worked tirelessly to allow Walter to cast his ballot, but Bobanic, Cullen, and Blickley stand out.

Blickley was involved from the beginning. She was in constant communication with Bobanic, Cullen and Walter.

Blickley told me, “This has been an emotional one for us.” She continued, “There is never a day that goes by that I’m not so proud of my colleagues. But then there are days like yesterday (Tuesday) where calling to make sure a 94-year-old Korean War Veteran, who in his own words said, ‘This may be the last time I ever get to vote’ was able to cast his ballot. I can’t say enough about our Tax Collector and our Supervisor (of Elections) and I am so proud to be on Team Brevard Constitutional.”

The key to success was Walter being issued a valid Florida ID. That is where Cullen and her co-workers came into play. Cullen said she felt “confident” her team would go through. She said, “I have a wonderful team, and I knew they would care for him.”

It was a perfect example of how the Constitutional Officers work together in Brevard County. Bobanic told me that, “His story really touched my heart. We just HAD to do whatever we could to help him.” He said, “It was one of the proudest things I have ever done in my office.”

However, the story did not end on Tuesday. The day after election day, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Walter at The Blake in Viera. Mr. Walter was presented with two Challenge Coins and a Veterans Pin. Bobanic, Cullen, and Blickley made the presentations.

Brevard County is fortunate to have a group of elected officials who put service above self. They saw a Veteran in need and took action.

Walter fought valiantly for this country and all that it stands for. The right to vote should never be taken lightly. Jim Walter certainly does not take it lightly, nor do Tim Bobanic, Lisa Cullen, or Dana Blickley.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Steve Wilson was born in DeRidder, Louisiana and grew up in both New Orleans and Macon, Georgia.  He moved to Brevard County in 1984 and retired from local government as the Community Advocate/Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Rockledge in 2018.

Among the awards and accolades Steve has received over the years are 15 + year Rockledge Little League volunteer, Brevard Public School Jefferson Award Recipient, Rockledge High School Raider Booster Award 2001, 2006, City of Rockledge Employee of the Year 2006, Rockledge Kiwanian of the Year 2006-2007, City of Rockledge Quality Public Service Award 2008, 2012, 2017, Rockledge Kiwanis Citizen of the Year 2012-2013, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Sportscasting 2015, Rockledge High School Leadership and Service Award 2016, Central Florida Humanitarian Award 2017, Space Coast Inspiration Award – 2018,  Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Lifetime Achievement – 2020, Ecofest Achievement Award – 2022, Quality Floridian Award – 2022, presented by U.S. Congressman Bill Posey.

Wilson is especially proud of his chairing two fundraisers in support of pediatric cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of Merritt Island resident Julie Spurlock that raised over $25,000.00.

He has been a partner, along with Orville Susong, for the past 25 years with the Friday Night Locker Room, a broadcasting team that covers and reports on a wide variety of local events that are of significance to the residents of the Space Coast and beyond. Their mission is to promote youth sports, support first responders and law enforcement personnel, and showcase community and charitable events that are produced by our nonprofit partners in central Florida.

The Friday Night Locker Room has awarded hundreds of sports achievement plaques to Brevard County student-athletes over the years. They have also awarded more than $18,000 in academic scholarships to Brevard County high school seniors.

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