Cherokee to vote in alcohol referendum

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Cherokee to vote in alcohol referendum

Cherokee voters will soon decide whether the Qualla Boundary should have a tribally operated beer, wine and liquor store. Holly Kays photo

Increased alcohol availability could be on its way to the Qualla Boundary pending the outcome of a referendum vote slated for Thursday, May 31.

When registered voters in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians head to the polls, they’ll face a ballot featuring a single item: “To allow ABC permits to be issued to allow retail sales of alcoholic beverages on tribal trust land at a tribally owned package store and ABC store,” with the option to vote yes or no.

A yes vote would allow the tribe to build a store — technically two stores, likely housed in a single building with two entrances — with one side selling liquor and the other side selling beer and wine.

“The intent of beginning with just a tribally owned package store was, for lack of a better term, to ease into this,” Principal Chief Richard Sneed said during a town hall meeting May 15. “Initially one of the proposed questions was, ‘Do you support alcohol sales tribal-wide?’ That would be everything all at once.”

If tribal members vote yes on the referendum, Sneed said, tribal leadership might then ask voters to consider further loosening alcohol laws down the road.

“If this passes, we would have 18 months to demonstrate to the public here in Cherokee that this could be owned and operated responsibly, and that would demonstrate that we could ease into restaurants, other retail and so forth,” he said at the town hall. “We didn’t believe there would be widespread support for just across-the-board everything all at once, and I don’t believe anybody in the community wants to see — certainly I don’t want to see — bars on every corner. It’s just a very metered approach to moving into it.”

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The discussion that ultimately produced the referendum vote began shortly after the 2017-2019 Tribal Council was sworn in. Councilmember Lisa Taylor, of Painttown, was upset that some restaurants near the Blue Ridge Parkway had been granted alcohol permits as the result of a state law that granted a loophole to a previous referendum vote that restricted alcohol sales to casino property. Taylor wanted a referendum in order to get rid of the so-called Blue Ridge Law permits, but Attorney General Mike McConnell advised Tribal Council that referendum results would not affect those permits. However, the referendum discussion continued on with Council eventually settling on the question now facing voters.

Tribal members weigh in

If an informal survey of shoppers at the Cherokee Food Lion last Thursday is any indication, voters are split on the issue. Of 12 people interviewed, half said they either didn’t plan to vote or hadn’t decided which way to vote. Three said they were in favor of authorizing an ABC and beer/wine store, while three others said they were opposed.

“I don’t think it’s a good thing at all, because it’s too close,” said Debra Locust, 53, of Birdtown. “If they have to ride a little further, let them ride a little further. I know it may be big money for the tribe, but we’ve always voted against stuff like that.”

For some, personal experience with alcohol addiction guided their views.

“I’ll be against it, because I’ve got some family members that are abusing alcohol, and I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Donna George, 55, of Wolfetown.

Currently, someone wanting to pick up a bottle of liquor would have to drive into Sylva, Bryson City or Maggie Valley, though beer and wine are available at the Catamount Travel Center, just across the line marking the boundary of tribal trust land.

For some, that’s a reason to be in favor of a tribally owned store. People who are going to drink are going to drink, they figure, so the tribe might as well reap the profit from it.

“I’m all for it,” said Cheryl Owle, 52, of Birdtown. “Because of the revenue mainly, and you know people that like to drink alcohol, they’re going to get it wherever they can. So I feel like the revenue should be here instead of somewhere else.”

Joi Owle, 22, also of Birdtown, said that she’d like to see the tribe eventually approve alcohol sales even beyond the confines of a single package and ABC store.

“I also think it would be really good for tourism here, because it’s something that a lot of surrounding areas have and it brings a lot of people in,” she said, “which would also bring more revenue in.”

Others felt more conflicted about the issue.

“It’s just always been on the reservation,” said a 34-year-old Big Y voter who only gave her first name, Mary. “I don’t think there’s any reason why, just why not I guess. I have grandkids and try to keep them away from all that, but I think it’s probably going to get a no vote anyway. For me I guess I’m in-between, I guess. It’s not good for the reservation, but like I said it’s always been here.”

The vote counting process

The alcohol referendum will be the first election held since a report came out revealing significant weaknesses in Cherokee’s elections-related security. The report, by Arizona-based Veriti Consulting LLC, was completed Jan. 29 after a recount of ballots in the September 2017 elections yielded substantially different results than the original machine count.

The report turned up a slew of issues that alarmed voters and tribal leaders alike. It concluded that the shift in votes had likely occurred because somebody tampered with the ballots between the machine count and the hand count, something that was apparently rather easy to do due to the fact that the ballots were stored in plastic containers in an often unlocked vault, and that the lids of those containers had slots that a person could easily stick their hands through. The security faux pas continued from there, according to the report.

The report stated that unvoted ballots were stored on open shelving in the Board of Elections office, to which an unknown number of people have a key. It said that voter registration cards were in need of an audit and that registration information was not secure enough, creating the potential for voter fraud. In addition, Veriti said that polling locations were not covered by security cameras and that poll workers should receive more training and a written policy book. A follow-up work session revealed that the Board of Elections has no written policies or procedures outside of the ordinance that creates it.

EBCI Board of Elections Chair Denise Ballard did not return phone calls asking to what extent Veriti’s recommendations have been implemented in advance of the alcohol referendum. However, comments she made during the May 15 town hall indicate that some of the issues the report turned up will not affect the referendum.

“I will tell you this will be a hand count,” Ballard said at the town hall. “We’re not using any machines. It will be hand-counted at each polling location at the end of the day.”

Much of the issue with the September elections seemed to stem from problems with the aging machines that the tribe uses for elections and from lax security surrounding ballot storage. In this case, ballots will be hand-counted immediately.

According to the Veriti report, in the September election ballots were transported by police escort from the polling places to the Tribal Council House, where they were read by voting machine tabulators. In a February work session Ballard told Tribal Council that Board of Elections members and representatives from Automated Election Services, the company that provides Cherokee’s election services, were present while the machine count took place. Ballard did not state during her comments May 15 who would be present while ballots were counted at individual polling places or whether those hand counts would be videotaped, as is the case with hand counts that occur when a recount is requested following a typical election.

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