Beer, wines sales won’t start immediately after voters OK measure

It’s going to be six to eight weeks at a minimum before stores in Graham will stock shelves with beer and wine after a measure to allow off-premise sales of those beverages passed in Tuesday’s General election. The local-option election in Graham has passed with 1,855 votes in favor, and 1,482 against. The measure garnered a total of 3,337 votes for and against, which is 54 percent of the 6,181 registered voters in the city of Graham. Young County chose the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence for President and Vice President, respectively, giving them 85.67 percent of the vote with 6,587 votes. The Democratic contenders, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine received 11.35 percent of the vote (873 votes), with the remainder being split between Libertarians Gary Johnson and William Weld, with 2.33 percent (179 votes), the Green party’s Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka with .25 percent (19 votes), and one vote for a write-in candidate. A total of 7,689 voters made their choices in the presidential race, which is 66.6 percent of the county’s 11,538 registered voters. Local option The first step on the path to beer and wine sales in Graham is for Young County and Graham City Council to canvass and approve the results of the Nov. 8 election. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.