Group wants SLED to investigate Florence Sunday alcohol sales vote

Members of Strengthening Florence Families are voicing complaints about the results of Florence’s Sunday alcohol sales referendum, which voters passed in Tuesday’s general election.

The group’s chairman, Gary Finklea, called a press conference Thursday afternoon to say the group would not be filing a formal protest of the election, but that it would be bringing a number of issues to the attention of the Florence County Election Commission.

“We determined that the reason we did not win this election was that we were not successful in getting our message out that this referendum, if passed, not only applied to sales of alcohol in restaurants with your meal, but that it also applied to bars,” Finklea said to explain why they do not plan to file a protest.

He did, however, show photographs of people distributing literature at or near the doors of polling locations at Poynor Adult/Community Education Center and at the Church at Sandhurst, urging support of the referendum at certain Florence precincts Tuesday.

“In addition to the information being distributed outside the doorway, which is a violation of the law, it was laying on the voter registration table, which is also improper and a violation of the law,” Finklea said.

The group also is calling for an investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division into allegations that someone paid the people passing out literature in favor of the referendum.

“We want to bring this to the attention of the Election Commission and we want them to bring this to the attention of SLED and ask them to investigate who (the person) is,” Finklea said.

He said the group will continue to work towards their original goal, despite the unfavorable outcome of the election.

“We hope that the Hospitality Association’s infiltration into our area will be the ripple of a wave that begins to cause folks who share our values to step up for our city and continue to fight for good,” he said.

Restaurants in Florence hope to be able to offer people the choice of an alcoholic beverage by Nov. 16, according to the Hospitality Association of South Carolina.

Tom Sponseller, president of the association, said the time line to offer alcoholic drinks on Sunday depends on how quickly the Florence County Election Commission sends the results of the vote to the S.C. Department of Revenue.

“They have to provide (the department) with a copy of what the question says on the ballot,” he said. “Once (the department) approves it, then they develop a city of Florence license.”

Sponseller said typically that takes about 24 hours after the votes are officially approved.

“Most of them are done Thursday or Friday (after the election),” he said. “Usually that license cannot be purchased on the first weekend, but by next weekend they should have the licenses and be open for business.”

Allan Hyman, front of the house manager for Redbone Alley in Florence, said the restaurant plans to purchase a license as soon as possible.

“If we could have gotten it this week, then we would have gotten it this week,” he said.

Hyman said management for the restaurant called on Wednesday to check on the timeline.

“They still had a few absentee ballots they had to count before they could say it passed,” he said.

But, Hyman said, there are no plans in the works to celebrate the passage of the referendum at Redbone Alley.

“For us, it was just getting it passed for the freedom of choice,” he said. “It’s just something we wanted for our patrons to have the choice while they were coming in.”

Sponseller said Florence wasn’t the only city asking for residents to vote on Sunday alcohol sales in South Carolina.

“There were more than have ever been done in the state,” he said. “There were 10 (similar referendums) on Tuesday.”

The final, uncertified, word from the voters in regard to the referendum was determined late Wednesday night resulted in 8,039 votes in favor and 7,609 votes against Sunday alcohol sales in Florence.

Steve Love, interim director of the Florence County Voter Registration and Elections Commission, said no complaints can be filed until after the votes are certified today.

“They can be filed after the certification until noon on Wednesday, Nov. 12,” he said.