VAN WERT, Ohio (WANE) – Election Day is Tuesday with many municipal elections happening around the region, but one small city in Ohio only had one thing on the ballot.

The City of Van Wert voted in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays in the 2A precinct in order to allow the restaurant chain, Beer Barrel, to serve alcoholic drinks.

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, businesses who sell liquor are required to have a permit in order to sell it on Sundays. For businesses that also want to sell beer on Sundays, they can only be authorized to do so through a local option election, where residents who live in the precinct where the business is located vote to determine whether they want alcoholic beverages sold by that business on Sundays.

“We were approached by people affiliated with Beer Barrel about their interest in coming to town,” said Brenda Weaver, deputy director of the Van Wert County Board of Elections. “They are looking to open a restaurant/bar and they had filed a petition with us to put it on the ballot.”

Weaver said up until now, the precinct has not allowed businesses to sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays.

“As of this moment, we are seeing very low turnout for this vote,” she said ahead of the vote. Alcohol sales were approved in a 15-6 vote.

Beer Barrel plans to open a location on Towne Center Boulevard, where Aaron’s furniture store used to be. The restaurant chain has locations across Ohio and in Fort Wayne.

Van Wert Mayor Ken Markward said back in the day, there were lots of things to do on Sunday and by default, nobody was allowed to sell alcohol on Sunday.

“These restrictions were created years and years ago,” Markward said. “They have to ask to put it on the ballot while obtaining building permits and other requirements.”

States like Ohio implemented “blue laws” back in the 1800s where alcohol was not allowed to be sold on Sundays. Ohio’s blue law started in the 1830s and lasted until 1973 when it was repealed.

Beer Barrel is not the only business in Van Wert to have to go through this process. Markward said other places including Walmart and Casey’s General Store had to do the same thing in order to sell alcohol on Sunday in the city.

“Casey’s came in five years ago and since they were building on a vacant lot, they had to get permission in order to sell alcohol on Sundays,” he said.

WANE 15 reached out to Beer Barrel’s corporate office and did not hear back before the publication of this story.