C-Store Owner Protests Grocery Store Wine Ballot

The filing claims the language violates the state constitution's equal protection clause because it outlines which stores can sell wine.

April 27, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY - A convenience store owner and two groups have filed separate protests over the ballot language allowing certain supermarkets to stock wine, The Oklahoman reports. The ballot would allow specific grocery stores in 15 of the state??s largest counties to sell unrefrigerated wine.

Both filings revolve around the fact that the ballot isn??t restricted to one topic, as required by law, and that its language violates the Oklahoma Constitution??s equal protection clause because it only addresses certain stores.

Yousef Javadzadeh, owner of several Oklahoma City convenience stores, filed his complaint with the secretary of state and the state Supreme Court, while the Oklahoma Prevention Policy Alliance and Fighting Addiction Through Education filed their protest with the court only.

"The Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (OPMCA) has not taken a position on the initiative petition as the issues are more complicated than they appear on the surface," Bill Maxwell, executive director, told NACS Daily. "The OPMCA was never approached in the preliminary discussion of this petition. As we understand it, Mr. Javadzadeh filed because he thought that big box retailers would have an unfair advantage against his small convenience store/liquor store operations."

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