Questions linger after Pct. 4 ‘No alcohol’ vote

The May 9 election might be over but the fight for allowing alcohol for off-premise consumption in Smith County Precinct 4 may continue to rage as questions emerge about voter eligibility.

Proposition 1 called for residents of Precinct 4 to buy alcohol and take it to their homes, while Proposition 2, called for the legal sale of mixed beverages in some restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders only.

A recount following a 94-94 tie during Winona’s Prop 1 election proposed by Smith County Citizens for Economic Growth asked for election staff to recount the votes and found no mistakes May 28 leaving the city dry.

“Everyone is happy,” Smith County elections administrator Karen Cheney said earlier. “We had two people marking and two people calling out, and we counted about five times. It’s over as far as our office is concerned.”

By last week, officials were examining the results once again amid allegations that some people were not eligible to vote in the election.

An investigation is under way and it could take a court to decide the outcome.

INITIAL RESULTS

Precinct 4 residents cast 3,331 ballots in 19 precincts at 11 voting locations throughout Smith County.
The official results for Proposition 1 had 1,461 residents or 52.71 percent voting against the bill while 1,311 votes or 47.29 percent voted for the bill.

The 11 boxes for Proposition 1 had three voting locations for the bill as Precinct 4 had the highest turnout with a vote of 181-111.

The eight voting locations that were against Prop 1 had Precinct 32 with the most votes as 438 residents were against the bill, while 273 were for the bill.

Prop 2 passed by 42 votes as 1,400 or 50.76 percent voted for and 1,358 or 49.24 percent were against the bill.
Proposition 2, meanwhile, was a much closer election as four precincts were for the measure, while six voted against the measure.

Precinct 24 had the closest totals on election night as 109 residents voted for, while 107 voted against the referendum.
Residents voting against the bill led the way in Precinct 32 by 75 votes as 391 voted against, while 316 voted for the referendum.

Precinct 4 had a vote of 183 for ending the Unicard program while 106 residents voted against the referendum.

Precinct 4 spans parts of Tyler, Winona, New Chapel Hill and Overton, and the northeast corner of Smith County.
The precinct is situated at the southern boundary of U.S. Highway 64 – less than two miles from the University – which could have potentially put beer stores within walking distance from the University if the referendum passed.

None of the residence halls or nearby apartment complexes are within the Precinct 4 boundary – and only Precinct 4 voters could cast ballots in the special election.

Concerns of whether to allow the legal sale of alcoholic beverages emerged in February when county commissioners called an option election for the legal sale of alcohol in Smith County Justice of the Peace Precinct 4.

Smith County Citizens for Economic Growth, which is the committee for the legal sale of alcohol, submitted the 1,509 signatures required to call for an election to Cheney in early February. Cheney then verified the authenticity of each signature as a registered voter.

Members of the Keep Precinct 4 Dry Committee gathered at the Smith County Courthouse Annex to watch the results.
“The off-premise consumption was big and they lost both (Precinct 4 and in Winona) and that is good stuff,” Anwar Khalifa, treasurer for the Keep Precinct 4 Dry committee said after the election.

In Winona, the votes came in as a tie for Prop 1 – 94 votes for and 94 votes against. State law says a tie means the proposition fails, which means Winona remains dry, Adrienne Graham, public relations liaison for Smith County said.
“With Prop 2, the only difference is now people do not have to have a membership in restaurants (to purchase alcohol),” Khalifa said.

Restaurants within Precinct 4 previously required citizens to sign up for a Unicard, which is a private club membership to drink alcohol.

Andy Osborn, treasurer for Smith County Citizens for Economic Growth, said the loss is due to low voter turnout.
He plans to continue fighting.

“There’s not a lot of voters that came out, and when we do this again we’re going to go about it differently,” Osborn said. “We’re going to go about it in a way where the voters know exactly where to go, and we’re going to get the message out loud and clear. I felt good about this election, I really did, and next go around we’re going to get this thing done.”

COSTLY BATTLE

Khalifa and Tyler residents Tony Watson, Jim Haire, Norman Cagle and Paul Dennis formed the Keep Precinct 4 Dry specific-purpose committee to oppose the sale of beer, wine and all alcoholic beverages for off premise consumption in February.

In April, SCCEG paid $37,500 to Texas Petition Strategies, an out of town consulting firm, and listed two donors, Robbins Osborn and Kyle’s Kwik Stop, owned by Kyle Adams to the Elections Office.

Khalifa said this demonstrates the SCCEG is a one-man show funded by two businesses.
“This group [Texas Petition Strategies] even brags about how successful it has been in the past,” Keep Precinct 4 Dry Committee web site said. “While this group says this is all about keeping tax dollars local, we believe this is more about making this group more money.

“The SCCEG announced earlier this month the creation of a steering committee that included 19 area business men and women. Supporters said months of hard work paid off during the election process.

“We had people call us wanting to help,” Khalifa said. “One of my customers that I am building a house for right now personally called all of the registered voters in the precinct and in Winona and people stepped up.”

Khalifa reported contributions of $17,451 between April 1-to-April 30, according to the Texas Ethics Commission campaign finance report. The committee reported $3,040 in political contributions of $50 or less and $14,411 in total political contributions.

The committee reported $11,730.72 in political expenditures and a balance of $4,720.28 in political contributions.
Smith County Citizens for Economic Growth reported contributions on May 2 of $4,167 from Kyle’s Kwik Stop and $8,333.32 from Robbins Osborn.

Members of the Keep Precinct 4 Dry committee said the election is costly.

“Some say that this election is just about keeping our local tax dollars for ourselves,” Khalifa said. “However, we have done the math. For every $1 million in sales of alcohol, Smith County will receive $5,000. So if we assume that this election cost $12 thousand for the county to run, it will take over $2 million in sales of alcohol before the county would even be paid back the cost of this election.”