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13 cents overdue postage snags ballots

Dozens of absentee voters are not using 52 cents in stamps and are getting their ballots back. Others encounter routing confusion.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published August 31, 2006

DADE CITY - Gerald Lonski thought he did everything right when he sent his absentee ballot back to Pasco County - signed, sealed and delivered.

To his surprise, it came back this week - more postage due.

"It made me upset," said Lonski, 80, a New Port Richey retiree staying in Illinois this month.

U.S. Postal Service officials in Dade City said absentee ballots by the dozens have arrived without the proper postage. Most are making the same mistake as Lonski, mailing it with one 39-cent stamp instead of the necessary 52 cents.

The ballots are returned for more stamps to be added, but face a 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline to be mailed or delivered to election offices. They cannot be turned over at polling places, especially by out-of-towners like Lonski, who is west of Chicago.

Dade City postmaster Jeffrey Alston said the daily returns started small, but he had 35 to 40 on Wednesday. A clerk, Brenda Temple, said she handles 10 to 15 returns a day. Absentee ballots are sent starting 30 days before Election Day.

Pasco voters have requested 7,180 absentee ballots, and 3,287 have been returned to sender.

Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning said the responsibility for postage is on the voter.

"Absentee voting is a privilege. It's not a right," Browning said. "It's something they choose to do."

Instructions on every Pasco absentee ballot's secrecy envelope tell voters to "be sure there is sufficient postage if mailed."

The envelope also has two boxes where stamps should go.

But nothing states the exact postage required. Browning said the rate is not included because his office uses excess envelopes in future elections, and postal rates can go up.

"It's always been an issue for voters to get the right postage on the things," Browning said.

Browning said his staff probably has heard complaints this year. He has not received any, but urged voters to contact his office with any problems.

Lonski put the onus on Pasco officials.

"You take an older person, they're not going to read things," said Lonski, a Republican who has worked in several campaigns. "I don't know who pulled this stupid thing."

The postal service also has mistakenly sent absentee ballots to where they originated instead of where they were addressed, Alston said. The problem arises because the voter's address is on one side of the envelope and the elections office address is on the other side.

Browning expressed more concern about that breakdown than the stamps, but Alston said he quickly told workers a week and a half ago to make sure the mail is routed correctly.

"I feel that is probably minimal. From what I've seen, there's much more of the ballots being returned" for insufficient postage, Alston said.

Avoiding uncertainty, Hillsborough County's absentee ballots state the exact amount of postage needed, which is 63 cents, assistant supervisor Jim Reed said.

Pinellas County's envelopes have the two boxes and an instruction of "requires extra postage," spokeswoman Nancy Whitlock said. In 2004, however, the Pinellas office urged voters to make sure the right postage was applied. The Sarasota County elections office did the same in 2002.

"We haven't had any trouble as far as we know," Whitlock said Wednesday.

At Pasco's estimated rate of 15 returned ballots over 30 days, about 450 ballots could be stalled. Turnout is expected to be low Sept. 5. In a state where close elections are part of the psyche since 2000, those votes could be crucial.

In 2004, Heather Fiorentino won the election for Pasco school superintendent by 383 votes.

Pasco Republican Party chairman Bill Bunting said he has received complaints, including a phone message from Lonski.

Democratic Party chairwoman Alison Morano said she has not gotten complaints, but the party is closely monitoring the absentee ballots.

Both said they worried about what some missing stamps could cost them in this election.

David DeCamp covers Pasco County government for the Times. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is ddecamp@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 30, 2006, 23:49:26]