Absentee ballot mailed with rare stamp ($200 000 ?)

[struggle4progress]

Story Published: Nov 11, 2006 at 7:52 PM PST
Story Updated: Nov 11, 2006 at 7:56 PM PST
By The Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - An absentee ballot was mailed with what may have been a rare stamp worth as much as $200,000 - the famous Inverted Jenny - but the envelope is in a box that by law can't be opened ...

What looked like a small stamp collection on one envelope caught Rostrum's eye about 8 p.m. Tuesday. At least one was from 1936, Rostrum said. Then he noticed one had an upside-down World War I-era airplane - the hallmark of an Inverted Jenny ...

Rostrum discussed the stamp with other members of the canvassing board, and a stamp-collecting Broward County sheriff's deputy overheard them talking about the possible Jenny ...

"By that time we had already sealed the box. And once you seal the box, under the election law you can't unseal it," Broward County Court Judge Eric Beller said ...

http://www.komotv.com/news/national/4621751.html

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. What moron would mail a letter with a 70 year old stamp?

and how did it even get sent, hasn't the price of postage gone up a little bit since 1936?

[JI7]

3. maybe they thought it would bring good luck to those they voted for

[silverojo]

6. Lots of people use old stamps they find in drawers, etc.

The stamps are legal to use, so why not use them? It's not like they're *all* worth a fortune.

[struggle4progress]

7. Just guessing -- but I'd bet it was an older woman, spouse deceased,

who found a collection of stamps among the spouse's belongings and dumped them together with the regular stamps.

Mailing the absentee ballot, the old stamps looked generally familiar -- memory from a time when ordinary stamps had such designs -- and having the not uncommon age-associated memory lapse, forgot the requirement of putting name on envelope.

I suggest woman, rather than man, because I think stamp collecting has tended to be more of a male past-time and I think the collector of such a stamp would have been excited enough about possession over a long time period not to easily use the thing for postage.

[armodem08]

2. here's the part that gets me:

"There was no name on the envelope, so the vote didn't count."

Translation:
"There was a minor violation of arbitrary rules so we decided not to count the vote for political reasons"

Also, the rareness of the stamp may signal the importance that the person placed on the ballot.

It's amazing how 'off-beat' stories like this can expose the greatest shortcoming in our democracy.

edit: spelling

[lindisfarne]

8. Here in CA, you get an envelope that has your address and other

relevant information (precinct, etc) printed on it. It is clearly stated that you must sign stating that you filled out the ballot. There is another place for someone to sign who assisted a handicapped individual fill out the ballot.

The voting system only has integrity if people follow the rules. But, the rules need to be clear and not onerous. In CA, I don't believe they are onerous, but I cannot state whether that's the case with FL. I always drop my absentee ballot off at the polls, where the poll workers always double-check that I've signed the envelope properly, and I'm very careful about filling out the ballot properly. The one thing I wonder about is whether my current signature is more abbreviated than it was when I first signed the request to receive absentee ballots, and whether any of my absentee ballots have been disqualified due to that. Next time I register absentee (I'll be moving in the next 3-4 months), I'm going to keep a copy of the form so I know how I need to sign my ballot envelopes!

[PermanentRevolution]

10. It's not an "arbitrary rule"

A signature is required on the ballot envelope so that election workers can confirm that the voter is registered in the county the vote will be counted in. There's no personal information on the ballot itself, so that your vote remains anonymous in a manual recount. The information on the envelope is the only way to determine if the absentee voter is registered and eligible to vote. Personally, I don't see the problem with that. Otherwise, what's to stop someone from voting multiple times using anonymous absentee ballots?

[countmyvote4real]

4. That's Florida. n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. recent sale for $2.9 Million

The 1918 upside-down plane stamp (or Inverted Jenny as it is known), may be the most famous stamp on the planet. Two weeks ago Scoop brought you the results of the stamp's recent sale (2005) for $2.9 Million.
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=10230&si=123



$200,000? They might want to bump that estimate up a little...

[TygrBright]

13. Dang, and here I thought...

...that the Cape Triangle and the Tuppenny Black were the most famous.

Just goes to show how fast you lose touch.

facetiously,
Bright

[justice1]

9. Either old lady or it's fake. nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. or old man...

[TexasLawyer]

12. here;s a picture

[KellyW]

14. a fake for sure...

nt

[Raine]

15. I would think they could find the owner

here in CA absentee ballots are numbered and they know who they were sent to. My father has a permanent absentee ballot status but if he misses two General Elections he is off of permanent status so they do have a way keeping track of the ballots.