After Missouri state officers lately rejected a petition effort to permit voters to resolve on the potential of a on line casino on the Lake of the Ozarks, backers of the plan filed a lawsuit final week arguing that they certainly collected sufficient.
The Osage River Gaming & Conference Committee is looking for to have the Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s® ruling on the difficulty overturned. Ashcroft’s workplace dominated that the petition lacked 2,031 signatures wanted within the 2nd Congressional District.
Disagreement Over Acceptable Signatures
To get on the poll, a petition should embody signatures from 8% of authorized voters in every of two-thirds of the state’s eight congressional districts. Backers obtained sufficient within the different districts, in line with the secretary of state’s workplace.
Nonetheless, Osage River Gaming alleged that 2,500 signatures have been rejected within the district that ought to have been accepted.
“Verifying each signature on a number of initiative petitions this summer time has been a really lengthy course of for election officers and we notice errors occur,” the group famous in a press release. “Nonetheless, (Osage River Gaming & Conference) has at all times been assured their initiative petition contained a enough variety of legitimate signatures from authorized voters to qualify for placement on the Nov. 5 common election poll and at the moment are asking the court docket to take action.”
The on line casino plan is backed by Bally’s Corp. and native actual property developer Gary Prewitt. The 2 have spent $2.1 million spearheading the on line casino push. Supporters say the on line casino would generate as many as 800 jobs and appreciable tax income to the state and space, which is one among Missouri’s high vacationer locations.
The Missouri structure at the moment solely permits casinos solely alongside the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and limits the state to 13 casinos. Whereas the on line casino petition was rejected, a petition that might legalize sports activities betting was permitted and voters will weigh in on that subject in November.
