Early voting begins Thursday at the Kingfisher County Courthouse for the Oklahoma presidential preference primary and two additional county questions.

While the GOP primary is restricted to Republican voters only and the Democratic primary is open to Democrats and Independents, county voters of all parties will decide the fate of two questions allowing Sunday alcohol purchases at county restaurants and retailers.

Early voting will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kingfisher County Election Board office in the courthouse.

Voters may also cast ballots at their regular polling places from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Alcohol Questions

The two county questions, called by the Board of County Commissioners at the request of restaurant owners and retailers, address an unintended consequence of recent alcohol reforms approved by state voters.

A county liquor-by-the-drink option approved by voters more than 30 years ago does not allow the sale of alcoholic beverages, either by the drink or in retail stores, on Sundays and holidays.

That didn’t create a problem for local bars, restaurants and retailers who could still serve and sell low-point beer, which is not defined as an alcoholic beverage under state law.

However, low-point beer has since been totally replaced by its high-point counterpart, which is considered an alcoholic beverage, after state voters approved the sale of stronger brews.

Thus, the county’s Sunday and holiday ban is triggered, which restaurant owners and retailers say is hampering their business.

Voters will be asked to consider two questions addressing the issue:

•Liquor-by-the-drink purchases on Sunday and every holiday except Christmas.

•Retail liquor sales of packaged alcoholic beverages on Sunday.

Presidential Primaries

Candidates appearing on the Presidential Preference Primaries for each party include the following:

Democrat Primary (also open to Independents)

Cory Booker;

Deval Patrick;

Marianne Williamson;

Joseph R. Biden;

Tom Steyer;

Amy Klobuchar;

Michael Bennet;

Bernie Sanders;

Julián Castro;

Andrew Yang;

Pete Buttigieg;

Tulsi Gabbard;

Michael R. Bloomberg;

Elizabeth Warren.

Republican Primary

Zoltan G. Istvan;

Roque Rocky De La Fuente;

Bob Ely;

Donald J. Trump;

Matthew John Matern;

Joe Walsh.

Because of the early filing dates required to appear on state primary ballots, many of the Democrat candidates listed have already formally dropped out of the race.

No third party candidates filed this election cycle.

Voters are required to present either their official voter ID card or state-issued photo ID before they will be given a ballot.