Alcohol questions remain
County Board of Elections will set Andrews and Murphy poll date today
By Lizz Harold Staff Writer

The Cherokee County Board of Elections will meet today (Wednesday) to set a date for Murphy and Andrews voters to decide the future of alcohol sales in each city.

The Murphy City Council announced on October 1 that residents within city limits will have an opportunity to vote on the sale of packaged beer and mixed and malt beverages.

The Town of Andrews, which currently allows the sale of packaged beer, approved an election for the sale of mixed and malt beverages last week.

The questions on the ballot will be for the on-premise sale and consumption of liquor by the drink and beer in Class A establishments. Class A establishments include restaurants, hotels, motels, and convention centers.

Under the state requirements, the establishments must seat at least 36 customers and must receive less than half of their total revenue from the serving of alcohol.

The board is looking for a time in January for the election. However, no date has been officially announced, said Director of Elections Leighsa Jones.

The purpose of the meeting of the Board of Elections is to settle any remaining issues on the questions to be placed on the ballots and to set the date of the election.

Both towns will have the election on the same day and will be open to registered voters that reside within the city limits of Andrews and Murphy.

The polling locations for Murphy will be at the L&N Depot and the Murphy Public Library. Andrews locations will be at the Andrews Community Center and the Facilities Building.

By law the election must take place no sooner than 60 days and no later than 120 days after the election approval. A sample ballot is expected to be available by December.