Nebraska voters will not have a chance to approve a proposed constitutional amendment allowing casino games at racetracks. Secretary of State John Gale said the petition for the proposal came up significantly short of the verifiable signatures required for qualifying for the November ballot. However, in Arkansas, backers of a constitutional amendment to allow casinos in certain counties came up with 50,000 additional signatures—enough to place the issue on the November ballot–after receiving a 30-day extension. Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office is processing the signatures now.
In Nebraska, Gale said the petitions included signers who either were not registered voters or signed the petition in a county where they were not registered. “It was quite stunning,” Gale said. Of the nearly 120,000 signatures submitted by Keep the Money in Nebraska, the pro-gambling group supporting the measure, about 35 percent were rejected—more than two times the rate of past petition drives, Gale said. “That accounted for more than 24,000 signature rejections,” he said.
Another 4,600 signatures were duplicates and more than 3,000 were rejected because the signer’s voter registration had been removed from the system for inactivity. That left only 77,956 valid signatures, well short of the required 117,188, or 10 percent of the total number of registered voters as of July 7. Although the total number of signatures fell short, the petition drive met the requirement for collecting signatures from at least 5 percent of voters in at least 38 counties.
County election officials are reviewing signatures the group collected for two other initiative petitions. One proposes state laws to regulate casinos at racetracks, and the other explains how tax revenues from the casinos would be divided. However, without constitutional authorization, those laws could not be implemented, even if they appeared on the ballot and were approved by voters. “I won’t say it’s highly likely, but it looks probable that there will be the same problem with them,” Gale said.
Keep the Money in Nebraska spokesman Scott Lautenbaugh, a former state senator from Omaha, said he was disappointed and needed more information to explain why the rejection rate was so high. “We’re going to review what they did and decide what to do next,” Lautenbaugh said. He noted the petition drive may have been affected because circulators had to carry three petitions instead of one. Also, the drive was the first in several years to be allowed to circulators who were paid per signature, so they may have been less concerned about the rules.
Lance Morgan, chief executive officer of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, said he is in discussions with the signature-collection company hired by Keep the Money in Nebraska, regarding the “ridiculously high” error rate, adding, “We don’t plan to give up. The people we talk to think it’s about time Nebraska allowed casino gambling.”
The most recent campaign finance report showed all but $33,000 of the $1.3 million petition drive came from Ho-Chunk, which had planned to develop a racino at the former Atokad racetrack in South Sioux City. Morgan said his group had 10 days to challenge Gale’s rejection of the petition. If the signatures still don’t measure, up, Morgan said Ho-Chunk probably would downsize its $30-$40 million plans for Atokad. “We think that long-term gaming will happen at the tracks. Maybe my kids will live to see it,” he said.
Pat Loontjer, executive director of the anti-gambling group Gambling with the Good Life, said the failure of the petition drive shows Nebraskans do not want expanded gambling. “If they couldn’t do it with 10 months and $1 million, I don’t know how they could do it. Nebraska’s been spared once again. God gave us another miracle,” she said.
In 2004 Nebraskans defeated two measures that would have legalized casinos in the state; one was proposed by legislators, and the other was a ballot petition. In 2006 voters rejected a proposal to allow video keno devices.
In Arkansas, the groups Arkansas Wins in 2016 and Arkansas Winning Initiative Inc. earlier submitted 92,120 signatures to place on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment allowing casinos in Washington, Boone and Miller counties. But that was not enough. But since the group had gathered at least 75 percent of the required 84,859 valid signatures, the secretary of state’s office granted a 30-day extension to gather more signatures. The group subsequently turned in 49,790 additional signatures, which now are being processed.
Arkansas Wins spokesman Robert Coon said he felt “pretty certain we’ll qualify for the ballot, based on what we’ve turned in today. The reception has been pretty positive.”
Arkansas Winning Initiative reported spending $535,196 in July, raising its total spending to $1.05 million. Of that total, Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC of Tahlequah, Oklahoma—the tribe’s economic development arm–gave $1 million , Arkansas Gaming and Resort of Branson gave $40,000 and Arkansas Wins in2 016 gave $7,400.
If voters approve the amendment, Coon said Cherokee Nation Entertainment would be involved in the proposed casino, hotel and entertainment complex in Washington County. CNE owns and operates nine casino properties in Oklahoma, including the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. A 10th casino is under construction near Grove, Oklahoma.
Under the proposed amendment, each casino annually would pay the state 18 percent, the host county 0.5 percent and the host city 1.5 percent on net gaming receipts. It also would create an Arkansas Gaming Commission, with five members appointed by the governor.
The Committee to Protect Arkansas’ Values/Stop Casinos Now recently filed a statement of organization with the Arkansas Ethics Commission to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment. Governor Asa Hutchinson opposes the amendment, stating it “dictates specific locations for casino gambling that prevent the people who live there from having control over what type of community they will have in the future.”
Currently Arkansas allows “games of skill” at Oaklawn Racing and Gaming in Hot Springs and Southland Park Gaming and Racing in West Memphis. The state also operates a lottery which raises funds for scholarships.
