After slight delays, group Vote Pike County Wet (VPCW) said that all county registered voters should be receiving their petition early this week.
“They should have hit mailboxes,” said VPCW group chairman Jack Bonds, who asks everyone to look out for the petition and notes that if you haven’t received a petition by Wednesday, you can pick one up at any of the drop-off locations.
Registered voters across Pike County were presented with a petition to place an alcohol referendum on the ballot for 2022. The petition was mailed to each of the approximately 5,700 registered voters across the county.
Only registered voters of the county will receive the document in the mail. It was noted that if multiple registered voters live in the same household, they would then receive the corresponding number in the mail. Each participant must fill out an individual petition, while information and names will be kept confidential by the VPCW group.
The kicker of the petition is not to fill it out at home. For legal purposes, the document must be filled out and signed in front of a witness at any of the drop-off locations. Information provided — name, address, date of birth, etcetera — must match exactly with the data held on file at the Pike County Clerk’s office per the individual’s voting registration.
Drop-off locations across the county include:
Glenwood
OK Cafe, Charlie’s Body Shop, Slingers and Shooterz
Kirby
Kirby Qwik Stop, Dunlap’s Store
Newhope
Newhope Store
Delight
Delight Mall
Murfreesboro
Feed Bin Cafe, Gypsy Underground, Branch Oil, Flicky Tz
If anyone is homebound or unable to get to a drop-off location, but would still like to submit a petition, contact Jamie Terrell at (870) 285-5288 to arrange for someone to come get the document and witness the signing.
For those who do not get a petition, or misplace the mailout, one will be available at any of the ten drop-off locations across the county.
Anyone who filled out a petition in the 2020 effort to legalize alcohol sales will have to repeat the process as old petitions are now invalid.
If you are not a registered voter, but wish to participate in the effort, contact the Pike County Clerk’s office at (870) 285-2743 or e-mail Randee.Reid@PikeCountyAR.org to get more information on becoming a registered voter. One day following becoming a registered voter individuals would then be allowed to legally submit a petition.
The group will ultimately need the help of the county’s registered voters — which was 5,776 as of the last qualifying certification on June 1, 2020, according to Pike County Clerk Randee Reid. To officially allow the issue to go to a ballot referendum, the group must collect the signatures of 38% of that pool of registered voters — 2,195 to be exact — in order to clear the legal hurdle for countywide consideration.
For more information about the issue, VPCW meeting times, or any questions about the group, call Jack Bonds at (214) 733-0452 or Jamie Terrell (870) 285-5288.
A Facebook page has been created by the group — Vote Pike County AR Wet — is being utilized to further communicate information with residents of the county.
