Deadline passes

BENTON COUNTY — The debated alcohol issue in Benton County is headed to a vote in November after Thursday’s deadline to challenge the initiative passed without a court filing.

Opponents had 10 days after the County Clerk certified 43,307 signatures July 23 to challenge the validity of the petition in Circuit Court. The 10 days passed Thursday, according to Dana Caler, deputy county clerk.

Several people contacted the Clerk’s Office to ask how to go about filing a challenge, staff said. None followed through with the filing, however.

An appeal would have cost $165 to file, according to Pamela Dyer, deputy circuit clerk. A judge would have had 10 days to hear the case and 30 days to decide, according to Arkansas law.

Any opponent would have had to prove more than 2,000 of the signatures gathered by Keep Dollars in Benton County were invalid to have the certification overturned. The group needed 41,171 signatures to make the ballot.

Marshall Ney, spokesman for Keep Dollars inBenton County, has said the group will focus on getting voters to the polls on election day.

He said, after the signatures were submitted last month, the number of signatures gathered, 41 percent of the county’s voters, is a strong statement of support.

The challenge period was the last hurdle facing the group before the general election Nov. 6.

Keep Dollars in Benton County spent five months and more than $400,000 to clear the signature requirement of 38 percent of registered voters needed for ballot access.