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The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled on one of two challenges to a ballot measure regarding casinos in the state.
The high court on Monday rejected part of a lawsuit challenging a ballot measure that would revoke the license given for a planned casino in Pope County. Judges unanimously rejected the lawsuit’s claims that the measure should be disqualified for violating several laws regarding signature gathering.
The court will rule separately on a second part of the lawsuit challenging the wording of the ballot measure.
Key takeaways
- While justices rejected the lawsuit’s claims that the measure should be disqualified for violating certain laws, the court still has to rule on a second part of the lawsuit tied to the measure’s famous name and ballot title.
- In August, the Arkansas attorney general approved an amendment requiring local voter approval for a casino license in Pope County to go on the November statewide ballot. Arkansas required 90,704 signatures, which the committee backing the repeal of the casino license, Local Voters in Charge, successfully gathered.
- Cherokee Nation Entertainment (CNE) received the license to build the casino in Pope County in June, amongst legal disputes.
The court denies claims that group broke state election laws
The court has yet to decide whether the proposed constitutional amendment’s famous name and ballot title are inadequate.
In Monday’s ruling, the high court denied a petition from the ACCC challenging the findings of Special Master Randy Wright, assigned to the case.
Wright disagreed with the lawsuit’s claim that Local Voters in Charge did not submit the required paperwork about its paid campaigners and that the group violated a ban on paying canvassers per signature.
In response to the decision, the Local Voters in Charge committee, which collected over 162,000 signatures from all 75 counties to qualify the measure for the ballot, shared a statement Monday evening, according to the Associated Press:
“We’re grateful for today’s Arkansas Supreme Court ruling. It’s no small thing for the Supreme Court to unanimously rule that we got it right on the canvassing process, with over 110 thousand signatures ultimately affirmed.
“Issue 2’s message of local voter control — that communities should have the final say on a casino in their own hometown — is resonating across the state. We look forward to the court’s final decision on the ballot language challenge, with hope that the vote of the people will be counted on Issue 2 in November.”
ACCC responds to ruling
On the other hand, Allison Burum, a spokesperson for the ACCC, released the following written statement, according to AP:
“While disappointing, we still await the court’s decision on the ballot title challenge. Issue 2 is misleading, and its sole purpose is to undo the will of Arkansas voters by eliminating the fourth casino license they approved in 2018.
“Voters will see this as a bad deal — out of state billionaires trying to manipulate Arkansans into changing the constitution to benefit their own self interest.
“If passed, Issue 2 would cost Arkansans thousands of jobs and much needed tax revenue, including funding for our roads.”
To add casino, Arkansas has struggled with local campaigns
A 2018 statewide ballot referendum authorized the construction of Arkansas casinos in four counties:
- Crittenden
- Garland
- Jefferson
- Pope
Three of these sites had operational casinos, but Pope County was the only remaining site, as it was among the state’s 11 counties (out of 75) that voted against the casinos.
And recently, in the summer of 2024, to be precise, the Arkansas Racing Commission awarded CNE the license to operate a casino in Pope County.
While CNE and Gulfside Casino Partnership were the only proposals submitted before the June deadline, the Commission only considered the CNE application. Gulfside Casino Partnership challenged the recent award by filing a lawsuit on July 2, stating local government support letters were obtained through pressure. CNE denied these allegations and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
All this time, the Pope County license faced challenges with local groups’ efforts opposing the casino and multiple operators being interested in the license. One such group, Investing in Arkansas, was actively campaigning against the ballot measure allowing gaming in Pope County.
Anti-ballot measure groups filed a lawsuit against the ballot item, arguing that, while collecting signatures, Local Voters in Charge repetitively made misleading claims regarding the planned measure.
Now, the Cherokee’s only hope is that the court will support the second part of the lawsuit regarding the alleged misleading ballot title language.
