States Where Alcohol is Banned on Election Day This Year

Whether you're wanting a drink to celebrate the arrival of the election or maybe because your candidate's campaign finally ended, there are states where you need to stock up before the big day.

These states simply refuse to sell liquor on Election Day.

Why States Won't Sell Alcohol On Election Day

Maryland became the first state to ban the sale of alcohol on Election Day in the early 1800s. Several more states would soon follow, putting their own laws in place to prohibit liquor sales while voters were headed to the polls.

Vine Pair looked back at the history of Election Day liquor bans. They found the reason for their existence was people trying to influence undecided voters with (you guessed it) alcohol.

"In the era predating Prohibition, political candidates ensured liquor flowed freely on election days to help them influence undecided voters," the website reports. "Banning alcohol, therefore, was more about policing the candidates than the citizens."

Following the end of Prohibition, some states began to change their mind about Election Day liquor laws. Somehow, there are still areas of the U.S. that have kept their bans in place.

Which States Won't Sell Alcohol On Election Days?

As many as seven states still had statewide bans in place preventing the sale of alcohol on Election Day in 2008. The Huffington Post says Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Utah and West Virginia all repealed their liquor bans by the time the 2012 election rolled around.

That left South Carolina and Kentucky as the two remaining states will full, statewide bans. Kentucky was a little more lenient, ending its ban at 6 p.m. compared to South Carolina's full-day prohibition of liquor sales.

Both of those states have since reversed their stance on Election Day alcohol sales, lifting their statewide bans.

READ MORE: Every State Where They've Made It Illegal To Collect Rainwater 

In 2024, there are still two states that have partial bans that only encompass select counties or cities. USA Today's look into each state's liquor laws found that both Alaska and Massachusetts are the only places that have partial bans limited to certain areas of each state. The bans in both states end once polls have closed on Election Day.

Outside of the U.S., several countries have sober election days. During Mexico's June 2 Election Day this year, some areas instituted a multi-day ban that included the days leading up to the election.