Provisional
Truth |
Essays | July 2006 Election Day Sobriety
Will somebody
please explain why real alcohol cannot be served or purchased before 7 pm on
election day? (Sorry, 3.2% beer is not real alcohol.) In 2006? Oklahoma remains one of 9 states that prohibit
alcohol sales in some form on election day. Now the deleterious effects
of demon rum on human judgment are well understood. And it's only been
20-odd years since liquor-by-the-drink became available, but c'mon, a
drink or two might help some voters' judgment. And since when
does such a small minority (actual voters who actually vote on election
day) get to determine the conspicuous consumption practices of a
majority of hard-working, non-voting Oklahomans?
Let's do the
math. Three-quarters of voting age adults in Oklahoma County are
registered to vote (about 375,000). In the July 25th primary,
about 26% of those eligible voters bothered to visit their local
precincts and exercise that same constitutional right for which our
military and the the citizens of Iraq are now dying. In other words,
less than 20% of the adult population interfered with the privilege of
the other 400,000 to buy a beer or two at our favorite bars or to
patronize our favorite liquor store before 7 pm.
Don't
start...it's not about the drinking. Most Oklahomans who enjoy an icy
cold adult beverage now and again work around this silly election day
tradition. It's really about an archaic statute that does nothing but
aggravate consumers, reduce state sales tax income and hurt the
independent liquor store owners who already are forced to close their
doors one day a week.
What if your
business was forced to close one or more days a year for no remaining
valid reason? Would WalMart put up with similar business conditions?
The theory of
course is that with bars and liquor stores closed, nobody votes under
the influence. No alcohol while voting polls are open harkens to a time
when ward bosses would set up shop at the local tavern and buy the boys
a round or three before they voted. Back when only men were allowed to
vote and generally spent their days warming a stool at the local saloon.
Think of all
those sales tax dollars not being generated. Why with three election
days this year, the loss of income to the state could be staggering. At
one local Oklahoma City adult beverage retailer, the owner estimates his
daily sales revenue loss to be about $50,000.00, which translates to
more than $4,000.00 of lost sales tax revenue. And he will be closed
again August 15th for a special run-off primary and again on
general election day November 7th.
For crying out
loud, even Kansas doesn't close bars and liquor stores on election day.
Maybe alcohol
is the answer to improving our decrepit voter turnouts. How about
an open bar at each precinct? A Bloody Mary for the early risers,
a glass of wine or beer for the lunch crowd and Martinis from 5 pm-7pm.
The good news:
we will get to vote in November to overturn a silly statute that does
more harm than good. Maybe the turnout will be better. And while we're
on the subject, will somebody please explain why auto dealers are closed
on Sunday?
UPDATE
***November 2006: By a slim margin (52% for / 48% against),
the measure to allow alcohol sales before polls close (7pm)
on voting days passed. Now if we only can get alcohol
sales on Sunday and (real) beer and wine in grocery stores,
we'll be catching up to the rest of the country.***
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