Three stores in Cave City will stop selling alcohol in mid-December and a convenience store in rural Greene County will continue selling beer and wine after elections Tuesday night.
Little River County also became the 41st Arkansas county to approve alcohol sales as voters favored a measure by 980 votes. There are 34 counties in the state that are "dry."
Washington County towns Farmington and Greenland also voted in favor of the sale of alcohol.
In Cave City, voters chose to no longer allow the sale of alcohol at three stores in the southern Sharp County town of 1,900 by a vote of 500 to 436, said Sharp County Clerk Tommy Estes.
Estes said the town's Dollar General, the Flash Market and Doublebees Convenience store will stop alcohol sales 30 days after the county certifies the election results. Estes said he expects the certification will be done Monday.
Sharp County residents voted the county "wet" by a slim margin in 2014. Cave City voters then opposed the measure, 508 votes to 306 votes, but the northern end of the county -- mainly in the retirement town of Cherokee Village -- favored the move and the sales were allowed.
Cave City Mayor Ron Burge said the three-man police force hired an additional police officer to handle the anticipated extra traffic once the county went "wet," but he hadn't seen any problems in the two years alcohol has been sold in the area.
"I'm sure we will lose some tax money once the stores stop selling," Burge said.
He said he expects someone will soon open a convenience store about two miles north of Cave City on U.S. 167 that will sell beer and wine.
The Old Country Store on U.S. 63 in Greene County will continue stocking beer and wine after voters in the Shady Grove township supported a measure to keep the area "wet." Thirty-seven voted in favor of the issue while 25 cast opposing ballots.
Residents collected petitions earlier this summer calling for the township to go "dry" and no longer allow the store to sell alcohol.
Second Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington has called for a state police investigation into voter registration irregularities after an onslaught of people registered to vote in the area. In June, there were 71 registered voters in the Shady Grove township. When early voting began Oct. 25, there were 103 registered voters listed, he said.
Many, Ellington said, gave registration addresses that were to camper trailers parked near the store. At least two voters listed the store's address as their own residences.
"If they're trying to cheat, that's a problem," Ellington said when asking for the investigation.
A person identifying herself as the manager of the store Wednesday would not talk about the election.
"We are choosing not to make any comments now," she said before hanging up the telephone.
Little River County in southwestern Arkansas became the 41st county to approve the sale of alcohol. Residents there voted, 3,068 to 2,088 in favor of the measure.
Proponents of the issue said they were tired of losing revenue to nearby Texarkana as people drove to Miller County to buy alcohol.
"We had to get something done," said Kirk Babb, the leader of Vote For Growth in Little River County. "I think once people saw the revenue this could create, it was an issue everyone could get behind even if they didn't drink."
The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division issues alcohol sales permits based on population. With its population of 13,000, Little River County is eligible to have two package stores, Babb said.
Voters in Farmington approved the sale of alcohol, 1852 votes to 969, and Greenland voters passed their alcohol sales issue, 350 votes to 136 votes.
State Desk on 11/10/2016