Arkansas Officials Ask State Supreme Court To Toss Casino Referendum

Posted on: September 24, 2024, 03:06h. 

Last updated on: September 24, 2024, 03:06h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

In August, Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston said enough signatures had been counted and certified to push a referendum question asking state voters to change how the state goes about approving commercial casinos to the Nov. 5 ballot. Now, Thurston said his office erred in signing off on the matter.

Arkansas casino referendum Tim Griffin
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin takes questions during a press conference in Little Rock on May 7, 2024. Griffin is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to dismiss a casino referendum planned for the 2024 election. (Image: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Local Voters in Charge, funded by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is behind Issue 2. The referendum seeks to only allow the Arkansas Racing Commission to greenlight casino projects in counties where local referendums in support of slot machines, table games, and sports betting have been held.

Pope County voters went against the state’s 2018 casino referendum that authorized four commercial casinos, with one each in the counties of Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, and Pope. Pope County was one of only 11 counties among the state’s 75 that voted against Issue 4.

After years of the Pope County casino license being tied up in state courts amid legal bickering between two entities that sought to gain the gaming concession, the Arkansas Racing Commission in June deemed Cherokee Nation Entertainment as the winner. The company, a subsidiary of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, wants to build a $300 million resort called Legends Resort & Casino in Russellville.

The Choctaw Nation did not apply for the Pope County casino but is seeking to prevent a gaming resort from opening in Russellville to protect its tribal casinos in Eastern Oklahoma. 

Officials Ask Court to Overturn Issue 2 

Writing a brief on behalf of Thurston, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin told the state’s Supreme Court, which agreed to an expedited review of the Cherokees’ allegations that Local Voters in Charge violated canvassing laws, that the secretary’s office erred in signing off on submitted petitions.

Thurston wrote that Griffin’s staff shouldn’t have approved most of the petitions because Local Voters in Charge didn’t properly register their canvassing captains, paid canvassers based on the number of signatures they collected, and other procedural errors. Thurston took specific issue with the campaign allowing canvassers and captains to self-certify voters’ signatures instead of Local Voters in Charge officials completing the process.

In its brief, Local Voters in Charge fired back on Thurston’s claims by citing findings reached by Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Randy Wright, who is serving as an independent advisor, or “special master” on the case.

In his “Findings of Fact,” Wright concluded that the Cherokee’s allegations were largely trivial. Wright recommended that fewer than 6,000 of the 116,000 signatures that Thurston’s office certified be dismissed. Citizen-led 2024 referendums need 90,704 certified signatures to reach the ballot.

Have Opinions Changed? 

Pope County Judge Ben Cross thinks the area’s voters would today sign off on a casino undertaking. Cross and 12 of the 13 justices of the Pope County Quorum Court have lent their support to the Legends project.

If you took the word ‘casino’ out of the equation and said any other industry is going to come into your community and produce a thousand new jobs and invest over $300 million initially — that’s just on the front end — people would be standing in line for the ribbon cutting,” Cross said. “It means a new jail, a new health department, a new 911 system for Pope County.”

Hans Stiritz, a spokesperson for Local Voters in Charge, says judges and government officials don’t speak for the community.

“Issue 2 is based upon a simple premise that local voters, the people within the communities that are potentially affected by casino projects, those are the people who should have the final say on whether the casino project goes forward or not,” Stiritz said.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered that final briefs be submitted by this Thursday, Sept. 26. The court will determine if Issue 2 is a go soon after the filing deadline.