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  • Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail, foreground, relays information, regarding wet dry results, to a crowd outside Hanceville City Hall Tuesday night including Good Hope Mayor Corey Harbison, in yellow shirt, West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo, in red shirt and others. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Alcohol referendum

  • Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail, right, discusses provisional ballots Good Hope Mayor Corey Harbison, left, and others outside Hanceville City Hall Tuesday night. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Alcohol referendum

  • Results are posted on the door of Hanceville City Hall Tuesday night. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Alcohol referendum

  • Approximately 50 people gathered outside Hanceville City Hall Tuesday night waiting for results on the cities wet dry referendum. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Alcohol referendum

Discussion

March 9, 2010

Buzz short lived for alcohol supporters

Officials misinterpret initial numbers; Hanceville to stay dry

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times

HANCEVILLE — In the heaviest voter turnout in Hanceville’s history, residents voted Tuesday to keep alcohol out of the city by the slimmest of margins.

Only 28 votes separated dry from wet in the special referendum, with 575 residents voting to keep the city dry and 547 voting in favor of legalized liquor sales. A total of 1,122 ballots were cast, including a total of 44 absentee votes.

A crowd of anxious onlookers waited an hour in the rain outside Hanceville City Hall late Tuesday evening to learn whether the city would become the first municipality in Cullman County to legalize the sale of alcohol.

When they left, many still weren’t sure.

That’s because early results had the vote count too close to call. The original announcement that scattered the majority of the crowd was 535 votes for dry; 534 votes for wet. A single vote.

The discrepancy between the early count and the final tally was not the result of machine miscount, but rather city officials’ interpretation of the electronic printouts enumerating votes cast by precinct, including absentee ballots.

Twenty-three provisional ballots still hang in the balance, a number not great enough to affect the outcome.

“We can move forward,” Mayor Kenneth Nail said Tuesday night. “This city has to go forward, and we need to love and respect each other, and go forward in doing the work of the city with respect for one another. One way or the other, I’m glad this is over.”

The initial count had onlookers believing that the outcome of the election would depend on verification of the 23 provisional ballots by the Cullman County Board of Registrars, a process that must be completed within seven days from the date of the referendum. That means all provisional ballots will be resolved on or before Tuesday, March 16.

“When they first said what it was going to be, I just got a sick feeling all over,” said Nail, one of several city officials and workers on whom the referendum has taken an emotional toll over the past two months. “It would have been a bad result for both sides, to have this continue on for another seven days.”

Ballots are marked provisional in order to allow a potentially disputed vote to be cast and set aside for review by the board of registrars. The process allows votes to be recorded so that voters can not summarily be turned away from polling locations.

Ballots can be marked as provisional for a variety of reasons. Common ones include questions over an absentee voter’s registered address, the exercise of free will of an absentee voter (due to unsound mental condition or coercion), or a voter’s name not appearing on voter rolls.

Two polling places were opened for the referendum: the chamber meeting room at Hanceville City Hall, and the Volunteer Fire Department at Stepville.

At the two polling locations, a total of 1,122 votes were cast.

At the Stepville precinct, 504 total votes were cast, including 3 wet absentee votes and 6 dry absentee votes. The Stepville precinct favored the wet vote 272 to 232.

At city hall, 618 total votes were cast, including 10 wet absentee votes and 34 dry absentee votes. The dry vote prevailed with 343 no votes to 275 dry votes.

* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 270.

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