Any voters wanting to stop by the liquor store on their way to the polls Tuesday Nov. 5 will be disappointed and have to cast their ballot sober.

Utah state law prohibits liquor stores from opening their doors on elections days as well as restaurants from serving alcohol until the polls close at 9 p.m.

This law dates back to the prohibition days in the early 1900s. Election officials had problems with saloons and certain political candidates buying voters a drink for their vote, said Earl Dorius, licensing and compliance manager for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Candidates would take people to the local saloons, buy them drinks and then take them back to the voting polls and have the constituent cast their vote in favor of them, said Dorius.

Another theory, Dorius said, was that candidates would try to get people intoxicated so that they could more easily convince the sauced voter to vote for them.

Prior to Prohibition, states felt the saloon systems were controlled by the big liquor companies, which caused a lot of abuses in the system. Because of pressure from big liquor companies, saloons would push more liquor on people than was necessary, Dorius said.

It was known as the "evils of the saloon system," said Dorius. "The election issue stemmed from this problem."

After prohibition was lifted in 1933, many states continued the law to prohibit the sale of alcohol on election days, Dorius said.

This law has been on the books in Utah since 1935.

"To my knowledge no one has ever tried to contest this law," said Dorius.

The general rules for this law are state liquor stores must be closed all day, package agencies, such as ski resorts and hotels, must not serve alcohol until after the polls are closed and this applies to restaurants as well.

"I can't say that I agree or disagree with this law," said Brian White, liquor store manager in Orem. "It doesn't really affect business."

This law strictly pertains to state elections. The rules do vary if it is a local election. If the local government wants the liquor stores to be closed for a local election they must notify the Department of Alcoholic Beverage control 30 days prior to the election.

Utah is one of 18 control states, which prohibit private distribution of liquor. This means the state itself is in the business of selling liquor. The state is the wholesaler as well as the retailer.

Election day will be dryer than usual for Utahns.

Copyright Brigham Young University 4 Nov 2002