A group of supporters to place local alcohol sales on county ballots fell short of signatures in Craighead County, the clerk's office said Monday.
But the effort isn't over: The group has additional time to collect enough signatures in Craighead County if it turns them in by the end of the month.
The group, which is called Our Community, Our Dollars, submitted signatures on petitions to place the issue of alcohol sales on Craighead and Saline counties ballots in November. It is also working to collect signatures for a similar measure in Faulkner County, where it has more than three-fourths of the necessary signatures for that county, group President Jay Allen said.
The group, backed financially by retailers such as Wal-Mart and the Kum & Go convenience store chain, submitted 21,180 signatures in Craighead County and 25,917 signatures in Saline County on July 7. To make it on the November ballot, 38 percent of registered voters in each county need to sign the petition.
In Craighead County, clerk's office employees worked between 75 and 80 hours of overtime to verify all of the signatures. Of the collected signatures, 5,032 were rejected, mostly because a petitioner was not registered to vote, Craighead County Clerk Kade Holliday said Monday.
The group needs an extra 3,810 signatures to garner the 19,958 to put the measure on the ballot, Holliday said. It has until 5 p.m. on July 31 to do so.
"It's all part of the process," Allen said. "We have been been collecting while the staff has been reviewing the signatures."
Craighead County residents last voted on whether to allow alcohol in 1978. At the time, 13,212 residents voted the measure down, and 5,538 voted for it, Holliday said. Before that, the election was closer. In 1944, 2,058 residents voted for it, and 2,974 were against it, he said.
A group opposed to alcohol sales in Craighead County called Local Citizens for Safety and Prosperity has raised more than $54,000 from companies that own liquor stores in neighboring Poinsett and Greene counties.
Craighead Pride, another group opposed to alcohol sales, has received a $7,500 donation from Jonesboro residents who own liquor stores in neighboring counties, said Jason Willett, a Jonesboro resident and consultant for the group.
The group's chairman, Bryce Goad, said alcohol sales wouldn't benefit the county.
The county currently allows alcohol sales in private clubs and restaurants if they have a liquor permit. Forty-one private clubs have liquor permits in Craighead County, according to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control.
"We just don't think we need beer sales in every convenience store," Goad said.
Not one local organization in the county is pushing for the measure to be placed on the ballot, Willett said.
"This is nothing more than the largest retailer in the world wanting to sell beer," he said.
Our Community, Our Dollars also needed more signatures in Saline County, where the group has seen the least opposition of the three counties, Allen said. It needs 4,032 more signatures there by July 28.
The group has until Aug. 5 to collect the necessary signatures in Faulkner County. Efforts there were delayed because of damage from an April tornado.
The group has continued collecting signatures even after they turned in the petitions July 7, Allen said.
He said the group realizes residents in each county will have differing perspectives on the issue.
"Our motivation is to put this on the ballot and let the voters decide," he said.
Metro on 07/22/2014