Liquor By The Drink Approved, Again.

The people have spoken, and they’ve reiterated what they said the first time. Liquor by the drink is wanted by the citizens of Pigeon Forge. The measure was approved during a special election for the second time after passing in the November election.

Pigeon Forge voters returned to the polls recently voting in favor of allowing liquor by the drink sales inside city limits. November referendum results were thrown out by a court following a public spat over who was actually allowed to vote on the November referendum, which also featured a presidential vote as well as an extremely crowded general election ballot.

In all, 952 voters passed ballots in favor of liquor by the drink, while 798 voted against. According to the Sevier County Election Commission people were out early and often to voice their opinion as 1,035 ballots were cast during early voting.

For a quick recap of goings on leading up to the November re-vote, citizens approved a measure that would make it legal to serve liquor by the drink in Pigeon Forge. However, that vote was thrown out after a host of locals as well as the Churches of Pigeon Forge opted to file suit against the county election commission.

Though the church group claimed that there were an additional 289 more people who voted in the election than there were registered Pigeon Forge voters, Chancellor Tellford Fogerty ruled that citizens living outside city limits had been allowed to vote in November on the same issue.

In the end, Fogerty ruled there was no intentional fraud created through this election, though the results were “incurably uncertain.”