The campaign that casino developer Shawn Scott is waging to gather signatures to put an initiative on the ballot to allow him to build a third casino in Maine is generating accusations of unfair and overly aggressive tactics.
The campaign, called Horseracing Jobs Fairness, has submitted its petitions and signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. Opponents say that many of those signatures won’t bear scrutiny and that many will not be allowed.
Bangor city councilor Ben Sprague Tweeted last week that of the 6,869 signatures gathered in his city, only 2,913 appeared to be from register city voters, with the rest invalid. More than 61,123 signatures are required to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
A city clerk in Lewiston told the Portland Press Herald that a larger than normal percentage of signatures gathered in her town were invalid. As many as one third to one half of signatures sheets appeared to be invalid, said the clerk.
Supporters of the initiative are crying foul on these statements, claiming that local clerks normally don’t keep track of such statistics.
A spokesman for Horseracing Jobs Fairness declined to say how many signatures it submitted to the Secretary of State’s office, saying, simply, “Enough,” according to the Press Herald.
Things that clerks check for include signatures of persons who actually live in an municipality, and to see if any names are printed (signatures are required), and to see if a signature is forged.
The Secretary of State’s office checks to make sure that a petition includes the entire printout of the proposed initiative, and to make sure that the circulator’s oath is properly notarized. They also check for duplicate signatures.
