BRIDGEWATER – By a margin of 10 votes, area residents voted down a local liquor option that would have allowed licensed establishments to sell malt liquor and wine on Sundays, according to a town official.

The count was 107 votes in favor, 117 votes opposed to the liquor option, Bridgewater Town Manager Amanda Dow said Thursday.

Dow said licensed establishments can sell malt liquor and wine in Bridgewater Mondays through Saturdays, but not on Sundays.

Earlier this year, Dow said the Bridgewater Board of Selectmen received a petition signed by about 50 residents requesting that the local liquor option be put on the November ballot. By state law, a liquor option must be voted on by secret ballot.

The board held a public hearing on the matter on Oct. 23. Approximately 20 people attended, with discussion on both sides of the issue.

“There were a lot of mixed feelings on it,” Dow said.

The measure was placed on the ballot as the only local referendum issue for Bridgewater. The question read, “Shall this Municipality authorize the State to issue licenses for the sale of malt liquor and wine to be consumed off the premises of licensed establishments on Sundays?”

Because of the Nov. 7 vote, Sundays will remain a prohibited day for the sale of malt liquor and wine in Bridgewater.

Dow said town officials were not surprised with the slim margin on the vote.

“We expected it to be close,” she said. “We weren’t sure which way it would go.”

She said the issue could come up again, but that no liquor option vote may be taken on the same question more than once in a one-year period.