Read the Obituaries - Before You Vote!

I've been an avid obituary reader for years. I think it started in grad school, when I first subscribed to the New York Times.

Several obits have gotten stuck in my mind, like that of jazz saxophonist Billy Titon, who died at the age of 74 in 1989. When the EMTs arrived, he was discovered to be, well, not a he! Billy, born Dorothy Lucille Tipton, played the part of man beginning in 1935. It's an interesting story, which you can read about here, here, here, and here.


But there is another reason to read the obituaries. Word has reached Scott's Spot of a Union County, North Carolina, election in which Sam Duncan was the top vote-getter Tuesday for a seat on the Union County Soil and Water Conservation board. He received 12,000 votes, — despite being dead for a month.

Although county elections officials knew of Duncan's death, no one told the voters. "We are instructed that it's not our job to do that," said Shirley Secrest, elections director.

The Democratic Party ran newspaper endorsement ads about Duncan and literature distributed near the polls included his name. Party officials said they didn't know Duncan had died.

Former sheriff Frank McGuirt said he was one of the voters who helped Duncan edge out the sitting chairman who had served for about a dozen years. "I was shocked to know that poor Sam was gone," McGuirt said. "I guess I had just missed that obituary."

Duncan's seat will be filled by appointment, officials said.

The lesson is clear. Read the obituaries. They're more reliable than any information you're going to get from your local politicians.