Utahns will be allowed to tip back a cold one on Election Day under a proposal that passed a House committee hearing Tuesday.

SB167, sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, will allow restaurants and private clubs to serve liquor on election days, though state-controlled liquor stores and packaging agencies will continue to be closed. The modification does not alter the right of municipalities to shutter taverns on those days.

"I consider this to be an antiquated position on the law," McCoy said the about current prohibition on serving liquor while the polls are open. "It's a throwback to when bars and saloons were polling places."

McCoy cited the recent Western States Primary as an example of how voting and alcohol availability can coexist peacefully. The federal primary falls outside Utah's current booze restrictions, so state liquor stores were open and drinks were being served in bars on Feb. 5.

"Mitt Romney won. Barack Obama won. Everything went swimmingly," McCoy quipped.

John Freeman, director of operations for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, testified that his department had reviewed McCoy's bill and was in support of its proposed changes.

SB167 has already been approved by the Senate, and now heads to the House floor for further action.