Election Day sales of alcohol OK’d by McCracken County

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) – Residents in wet precincts across McCracken County will no longer be forbidden from buying alcohol on Election Day.

The Paducah Sun (http://bit.ly/2dRFluQ) reports the McCracken Fiscal Court voted unanimously Monday to repeal the county’s longtime ban.

Commissioner Bill Bartleman says the ban originated in the 1920s or 1930s, when most voting locations were in bars or saloons and some candidates would bribe voters with alcohol before they entered the voting booths.

The city of Paducah has allowed alcohol sales during elections since 2013 when the legislature gave local jurisdictions the authority to lift a statewide ban.

Business owners said the law no longer makes sense because so many surrounding counties and communities allow Election Day sales.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.