Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey certified a petition yesterday that will force a vote on the option of selling packaged alcohol sales in the city limits of Murray. The Grow Murray campaign filed the petition several weeks ago requesting the vote. They needed at least 627 signatures for it to be certified. Coursey says the May Primary election will cause some problems for the local option election. The alcohol sales vote cannot occur within 30 days of a regularly scheduled election. Coursey says he doesn’t know when the vote will take place because he doesn’t choose the date, but says he thinks it will be after the primary.
An opposition group called "Keep it out of Murray" is gathering petitions signatures for a different kind of alcohol vote. Spokesman and Memorial Baptist Church Pastor Martin Severns says their petition is a response to the Grow Murray Campaign. Severns says the Keep it Out petition would give residents two choices. He says,
“It will leave alcohol sales the way they are currently and that is for liquor by the drink or, if the city votes no on that, then it would do away with those alcohol sales.”
"Keep it out of Murray's" petition is still circulation.