From the Arkansas Advocate:
It’s the biggest mystery to hit the central Arkansas town of Cabot, not to mention the rest of the state: Who purchased the winning $1.8 billion Powerball ticket?
Locals speculate on who the big winner of last week’s jackpot is, and whether there’s a new billionaire in their midst. Area charities are hopeful it’s a donor who’s willing to share the wealth.
“If I go into a local grocery store, if I go into anywhere in town, someone asks me about it,” House Speaker Brian Evans of Cabot said “Typically, it’s, ‘hey Brian, hey were you the winner?’”
Evans is quick to point out that he wasn’t.
A spokesperson for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery said as of Wednesday morning a winner of the Powerball jackpot hadn’t stepped forward, and thanks to a nearly five-year-old state law their identity may remain a secret for a while longer.
Arkansas is one of several states that allow some form of anonymity for lottery winners, and supporters of such secrecy say the Powerball jackpot poses the type of security risks they were hoping to address.
The 2021 Arkansas law allows lottery winners of more than $500,000 to remain confidential for three years. For elected officials and their immediate family who win, that anonymity is limited to six months.
Former state Sen. Larry Teague said he didn’t imagine a jackpot of this magnitude when he sponsored the legislation. But Teague said he wanted to give larger lottery winners a chance to get their affairs in order before their names were publicized around the state or country.
“There are a lot of things you’d have to do to protect yourself,” Teague said. “I wanted to make it where they would have time to work through what they needed to.”
Whoever won last week will have a lot to work through. The $1.8 billion winning ticket was the largest in Arkansas’ history and the second largest in the history of the multistate Powerball game. The winner will have the choice between an annuitized prize of more than $1.8 billion or a lump sum payment of nearly $835 million. Both amounts are before taxes.
The secrecy measure had its critics. Press groups opposed it for expanding the government records that were exempt from being disclosed to the public. Opponents also said that keeping that information confidential could hamper efforts to market the state’s lottery.
“In order to sell tickets, you have to publicize the winners,” then-Sen. Keith Ingram said during floor debate on the measure.
Evans and Sen. Ricky Hill, whose district also includes Cabot, both voted for the anonymity measure in 2021.
“The biggest issue is privacy, with people coming out of the blue saying they’re your cousin,” Hill said.
Local residents are for now left to wonder who bought the winning ticket. The Murphy USA gas station where the ticket was purchased sits in front of a Walmart Supercenter, and it’s uncertain whether the winner is from Cabot, one of the surrounding communities or someone who was just passing through.
“Somebody’s life has been changed forever,” Evans said.
