TC liquor vote still unsettled

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Protests focusing on the still unsettled race for Columbus County Sheriff have also left the future of liquor by the drink in Tabor City in limbo, a North Carolina Board of Elections spokesman said Monday.

     Certificates of Election have not been sent in the sheriff’s race, or for the mixed drink referendum that appeared to narrowly win election on Nov. 6, elections spokesman Patrick Gannon said.

     Voters in Tabor City for the first time appeared to approve the referendum to allow the sale of mixed alcoholic beverages in restaurants and other locations, but the victory was by a slim 11 votes, that outcome challenged in protests that seemed mostly focused on the sheriff’s race.

     Columbus County Board of Elections staff was instructed by the now dissolved NC Board of Elections and Ethics last month not to issue those certificates to Jody Greene or to town government in Tabor City because protests of those results are under appeal.

     See more on this story in today’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.