As voters in 34 metro area cities and Cherokee County poured into polls Tuesday to decide on the retail sale of alcohol on Sundays, DeKalb County gave 330,000 reasons it wants a say in March.
That’s the minimum dollar amount the county will save by holding its referendum during the presidential primary on March 6.
“The way the law is written, we would have had to pay the entire cost of the election,” Commissioner Jeff Rader said. “And there is no evidence we’d get more on sales than we do in paying for the election.”
Officials in DeKalb had been mum on the issue of Sunday sales, saying only that no voters pushed for a chance to vote this fall.
There also was no organized opposition, though the commission’s presiding officer voted against a referendum to signal his concerns.
Larry Johnson said his district in south central DeKalb is already flush with package stores and other shops to buy alcohol, and he is reluctant to support adding another day for sales.
“I wanted to send a message,” Johnson said, acknowledging his dissent would not affect whether the referendum on the ballot.
County voters are expected to approve Sunday sales, just as they are in DeKalb cities voting Tuesday. The lag time between the two may only be a few months, since county elections director Maxine Daniels said Sunday sales can begin as soon as her office certifies election results.
For Tuesday’s vote, that certification will be done on Friday.
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