Perry County public safety referendum loses again

The Perry County public safety referendum has failed for a second time.

With all 27 precincts counted Tuesday night, the unofficial vote totals are 611 "no" votes to 477 "yes" votes.

In April 2019, the initiative lost by a much greater margin, 2070 "no" votes to 824 "yes" votes.

The question on the ballot was whether Perry County could raise the sales tax by a half-cent to afford to hire more sheriff's department personnel.

Sheriff Steve Bareis had said he wanted enough money to keep two sheriff's deputies on duty at all times in the unincorporated areas, one on each side of the county.

His biggest opponent has been Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi, who argued that Du Quoin stood to gain very little from the sales tax hike, but would pay a disproportionately high cost for it.

No precinct vote totals are available yet.