Pink Hill's drink dreams dashed by invalid referendum
In Pink Hill, a vote may not always count. Like 56% of the voters in North Carolina who wanted voter ID in 2018, the majority of Pink Hill voters who said yes to the Mixed Beverage Referendum had their power taken away.
The mixed beverage referendum that was added to the 2022 ballot in the Town of Pink Hill has been deemed invalid by the ABC Commission. The decision came after the commission determined that the town did not meet the minimum threshold of 300 registered voters required to hold a mixed beverage referendum.
Commissioner Pete Fantini, who brought the referendum before the Pink Hill Commissioners last year, expressed his disappointment with the decision.
“The board unanimously voted to add it to the ballot for this past November,” said Fantini in a letter released through social media.
In November, 60.7% of the votes cast were to approve the Mixed Beverage Referendum.
“This decision got past the town attorney, the county Board of Elections, the county ABC Board and the ABC Commission of North Carolina to make it on the ballot,” said Fantini.
Former Lenoir County Board of Elections Director Steve Hines raised concerns about Pink Hill’s eligibility. He requested a resolution from the town’s board of commissioners.
“We conducted the election at the direction of the town’s attorney even after I questioned the statute that required a threshold of 300 registered voters,” said Hines.
According to Hines, “The attorney stated the town did qualify under another provision of the law.”
Hines then contacted the NC Board of Elections who told Hines if the attorney provided a resolution from the commissioners, the Lenoir County Board of Elections was to conduct the election at the town’s direction. Mayor Mike Hill, who was mayor at the time, signed the resolution, which passed the Commissioners unanimously, and sent it to the Lenoir County Board of Elections.
“It was not a Board of Elections issue to question what the town was saying they qualify for but to conduct the election,” said Hines. “The BOE is responsible for conducting the election, not legally determining if the town qualifies to even conduct the election.”
The ABC Commission used ABC Election Law, which is covered in Article 6 of Chapter 18B of the State’s General Statutes to invalidate the mixed beverage referendum as stated in the letter sent to Mayor Yvonne Deatherage.
The letter sent by Renee Metz, of the ABC Commission, was in response to questions Mayor Deatherage had about the requirements for Mixed Beverage Referendums as part of the Mayor’s due diligence.
According to the ABC Commission, only the paragraph § 18B-600 (e1) of the statute applies to Pink Hill.
“With 290 registered voters, Pink Hill is not eligible to hold a Mixed Beverage Referendum under any provision of § 18B-600,” said Jeff Strickland, Public Affairs Director of the NC ABC Commission.
Fantini is not giving up.
“We only need 10 more citizens to register to vote so we can put it back on the ballot in November. Tell your neighbors and have them tell theirs. Let’s get everyone we can to register so that there can be no question that we want this mixed beverage referendum.”
The state’s ABC Commission does not recognize the results of the mixed beverage referendum and will not issue mixed beverage permits within the limits of Pink Hill.
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