Missouri Sports Betting, Casino Petitions Gather Required Signatures

Two gambling-related petitions in Missouri seem to have garnered sufficient signatures to be positioned on the poll in November. The petitions name for a vote on legalizing sports activities betting, and likewise permitting for an extra on line casino within the state on the Lake of the Ozarks.

The subsequent steps within the course of will see state and native officers decide whether or not the signatures are legitimate and meet the state’s minimal quantity to proceed.

“The secretary of state’s workplace has three extra weeks to course of the petitions and ship them to county clerks to confirm the signatures,” the Kansas Metropolis Beacon notes. “These clerks have to return their stories to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s workplace no later than July 30 to arrange for the November vote.”

Validation Course of Begins

Most petitions should produce about 171,000 legitimate signatures for a problem to be placed on the poll. The sports activities betting proposal acquired 340,000 signatures and the Lake of the Ozarks on line casino plan obtained 320,000.

The sports activities betting petition started with the backing of a number of the area’s skilled sports activities groups after failed legislative efforts. A few of these supporters embody the St. Louis Cardinals, Blues, and Royals, and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. DraftKings and FanDuel have additionally helped push the petition.

“Whereas the sports activities wagering payments that we have now supported in the course of the previous couple of years have overwhelmingly handed within the Missouri Home and have additionally had the help of a majority of the Missouri Senate, these payments have been repeatedly blocked within the Missouri Senate and never allowed to proceed to a vote within the Missouri Senate,” St. Louis Cardinals President Invoice DeWitt III mentioned.

The on line casino plan is backed by Lake Ozark metropolis officers. The town board of aldermen have voted in favor of plans for a on line casino situated on the Osage River, which flows into the massive physique of water. However state regulation presently solely permits for casinos on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. State regulation additionally solely permits the Missouri Gaming Fee to license 13 casinos. A brand new on line casino would violate each of these necessities.

The Osage River Gaming and Conference has introduced a partnership with Bally’s, which owns a on line casino in Kansas Metropolis, for the development of a potential on line casino on the river close to the lake.