One of four liquor issues on the March 5 Kannapolis ballot may be invalid and could delay the election.
Election officials in Rowan and Cabarrus counties are seeking advice from the state Board of Elections and the ABC Commission on what to do.
At issue is whether the city has authority to vote on establishing an ABC store. That issue could temporarily derail election on liquor by the drink.
Ann Fulton, acting chairman of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, said it appears that Kannapolis has no authority to hold an election on operating ABC stores in the city.
Fulton said the enabling legislation to allow a liquor vote in Kannapolis does not contain a provision to allow for a vote on liquor stores. Fulton said the issue will require more research.
Rowan Elections Director Nancy Evans said this morning that election and ABC officials are arranging a conference call Friday in an attempt to resolve the issue and decide what if any changes need to be made in the election.
Issues include if new ballots could be printed or if the existing ballot could be used without counting votes on the store issue.
If the the election’s legal advertising would have to be changed and re-advertised, Evans said it would most likely delay the election. “We have run out of time to re-advertise,” Evans said.
Kannapolis Mayor Ray Moss said this morning that he has talked with City Attorney Wally Safrit about the issue. Moss said at this point he doesn’t know enough about the matter to comment.
Councilman and former Mayor Richard Anderson, who heads the anti-liquor forces, said today he had been advised of the issue in a letter from Safrit.
Anderson said the letter mentions the possibility of printing a new ballot or using the existing ballot and not counting the liquor store issue.
Anderson said if the ballots create confusion with voters, he may challenge the procedure.
State statutes control ABC issues, and until 1993 Kannapolis was not able to have any liquor vote.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Fletcher Hartsell enabled Kannapolis to hold a vote on liquor by the drink, beer and wine in 1994. Liquor stores were not include d on that ballot.
Prior to passage of that legislation, Fulton said Kannapolis did not have legal standing to vote on an ABC issues. Until that time, the laws made no provision for a city located in two counties.
“Kannapolis was the only city in the state that didn’t have the authority to call for a referendum,” Sen. Hartsell said. “That’s why the bill was drafted, so they could at least call for one.”
Hartsell, a Republican from Concord who is also the Cabarrus County attorney, said the legislation allows cities that lie in more than one county to call for a vote if either county has held a referendum that did not pass.
Hartsell said the legislation allows a vote on beer and unfortified wine, and on mixed drinks if one of the counties in which the city lies has an ABC store.
But it does not specifically allow the city to include an ABC store on the ballot.
“On the face of it, it sounds to me like there’s some conflict” in the legislation, Hartsell said. “And if that wasn’t fixed, that’s a legitimate legal question.”
Fulton said she contacted Kannapolis city officials Tuesday after discovering the potential problem. Fulton said she is unsure what affect the issue could have on the election which is six weeks away.
The question was discovered after officials of the Rowan ABC Board inquired about potential issues between Kannapolis ABC stores and the existing Rowan ABC store on North Cannon Boulevard in Kannapolis.
Fulton said Wednesday that based on the statutes governing the state alcohol system, it appears that if Kannapolis residents approve liquor by the drink, the liquor will have to come from the Rowan ABC store.
Cabarrus County does not have an ABC system.
Linda Lowman, general manager for the Rowan ABC Board, informed her board of the issues and Fulton’s comments during a meeting Wednesday morning.
Officials agreed that it could be a boost for the Rowan system. The Kannapolis store has the second-highest sales of any of the five stores in Rowan.
Similar questions about the authority to have a vote on ABC stores apparently arose in 1994.
Although he Kannapolis City Council passed a resolution asking that four issues be placed on the 1994 ballot, the Rowan and Cabarrus boards of election left the ABC store vote off.
After checking the minutes of the Rowan Board of Election minutes, Evans said the board voted on Feb. 1, 1994, to put only three issues on the ballot.
The minutes indicated that since there was an ABC store in Kannapolis, an election on having a liquor store was not necessary and the would not place it on the ballot unless instructed otherwise by the state.
The board received a letter from the state attorney general’s office which indicated that Kannapolis had the authority to call for an election on liquor by the drink, sale of wine and sale of malt beverage.
Contact Jessie Burchette at jburchette@salisburypost.com or call 704-797-4254.
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