A wet/dry vote for the Robards precinct will be on the ballot in the November general election.
According to the Henderson County Clerk’s office, 182 qualified signatures were submitted—one more than the number of qualified signatures of registered voters in the precinct needed for the local option to be placed on the ballot.
The initiative is being taken up by Joe McGarrh, who bought what was Suggs General Store in January and changed the name to Robards General Store.
McGarrh said that he is looking for a way to stay competitive with some of the other bigger corporate stores. He has also said that he wants to provide a more convenient option for Robards residents to pick up a six-pack than driving into Henderson.
In a March Hendersonian article, Carrie Smith, the chief elections deputy at the county clerk’s office, said McGarrh needed to gather signatures of 25% of the number of voters who voted in the previous election. That number is 181.
McGarrh on Friday told the Hendersonian that it took him three trips to the county clerk’s office to fulfill that number. The first time he submitted—about a month ago, he said—there were 191 signatures. Unfortunately for McGarrh 60 of those were unqualified either because they were not registered to vote or did not live in the Robards precinct, he said.
So, McGarrh recruited his father and the pair went door-to-door in Robards searching out signatures. He said he spent several weekends doing that before returning early last week with another batch of signatures. Needing 50 qualified signatures, it turned out he came up one short, he said.
He embarked on a quest for the one final qualified signature on Wednesday, and returned to the county clerk’s office the next day with two more, pushing him over the threshold, he said.
“It was a little bit of a process,” he said.
All told, McGarrh gathered 257 signatures and 182 of them were qualified, said Smith.
Smith said once she checked the signatures, she passed the information on to Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider, who issued an executive order for the vote.
Smith said that on Thursday she submitted the paperwork to the state board of elections and the vendor that creates the ballots for Henderson County elections.
McGarrh said judging from the mostly positive reactions he got collecting signatures, he expects the votes to go his way. He said there were some who politely declined to sign but most he spoke to were in favor.
If it does pass, McGarrh said he will start off selling packaged beer. If customers tell him they’d like to be able to buy a bottle of wine, he said he may add that later. He said he won’t pursue a bar or drinks by the pour.
If the vote passes, other businesses in Robards would also be able to apply to sell alcohol, if they chose, including the North South Truck Stop and Rockhouse Pizza, according to a previous Hendersonian article.
