People in Potter thought it was a straightforward ballot question: Should we allow restaurants to sell beer? Then the state got involved and by the time it was over, residents had accidentally banned beer sales anywhere in town. Now, they're seeking the state Legislature's help in reversing an inadvertent prohibition that threatens to close the town's single grocery store.

Those involved say the incident stems from the state's "arcane" alcohol laws. ...The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, essentially unchanged since Prohibition, mandates that a list of five specific questions be put on a ballot. Voters became confused by the wording of the questions, according to the Potter Town Supervisor Len Lisenbee, and voted down all of the proposals. The beer ban is set to go into effect July 1.

...Even the state Liquor Authority admits that the five-question system demanded by the Alcohol Beverage Control law is outdated. The agency drafted bill language in February that would replace the current questions with "plain-English" ones. Winner and Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Kenmore, have introduced bills to that effect. According to an agency spokesman, the five-question format was put into the law when Prohibition was repealed in the early 1930s. "The reason for (the questions) has long since passed," the agency said in a bill memo. "A number of the questions are completely incomprehensible."