Oscar Ballots Mailed Out With Care

Wednesday, January 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) â€” This year's Oscar nomination ballots were mailed with extra care Tuesday to prevent a repeat of last year's embarrassing disappearance, Academy Awards officials said.

Nearly 4,000 Oscar ballots vanished last year when they were mistakenly sent to a post office in Bell, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles.

The ballots were eventually found, but the Academy had already printed new ones and extended the voting deadline by two days.

``We have taken a particularly hard look at our procedures this year and will implement a few changes, said Greg Garrison of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the accounting firm tabulating the votes.

This time, Beverly Hills Postmaster Koulla Fuller personally monitored the transfer of ballots from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences offices to the post office to make sure they were not misplaced.

The ballots were sent to the academy's 4,253 California members. Nomination ballots were sent to the academy's international and out-of-state members on Jan. 5.

The nominees will be announced on Feb. 13 and the winners will be honored at a March 25 ceremony.

This year, the academy also ordered an extra set of Oscar statuettes to ensure it will always have figures to award if the gold-coated figures are stolen.

Last year, the shipment was swiped from a loading dock. A salvage man, Willie Fulgear, later reported finding 52 of the 55 stolen figures dumped in a trash bin.