Issue 2, an initiative on casino licenses, can remain on the Nov. 5 Arkansas ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.
The court’s final opinion in a challenge against the committee Local Voters in Charge affirms that the language of the measure’s text and title fairly represents the amendment and means that votes for the measure, which is already printed on ballots, can be counted.
“Our ballot proposal is a valid, clean proposal that should be voted on by the state of Arkansas. The Supreme Court was unequivocal in stating that it couldn’t be more straightforward and correctly presented to the voters of Arkansas and the votes should count,” Local Voters in Charge spokesperson Hans Stiritz said in a news conference on Thursday.
The group is behind a proposed constitutional amendment which would kill plans for a new casino in Pope County and mandate a countywide vote to approve any new casino licenses in the state. It was challenged in August over paperwork technicalities and claims that its signature collection practices broke the law.
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied one of the two counts against the measure, which alleged that a disqualifying number of its signatures were tainted by invalid canvasser certification paperwork and practices of compensating them based on how many signatures they collected.
That part of the suit claimed managers told canvassers they would receive cash bonuses and gift cards, be paid for a certain number of hours based on signature quotas and be entered into raffles based on their performance, in violation of state election law. It also claimed that some canvassers had listed invalid home addresses and that their background check certification paperwork was improperly signed.
A special master’s report concluded that Local Voters in Charge may have used improper practices but that they weren’t widespread enough to disqualify its measure.
The court invalidated thousands of signatures collected by those canvassers, but that still left the group with enough to proceed.
Local Voters in Charge is backed by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which runs a casino on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line, not far from Pope County.
The challenge against it was brought by the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee, a group funded by rival casino operator Cherokee Nation Businesses — the holder of the Pope County casino license.
In a written statement Thursday, Allison Burum, a spokesperson for Cherokee Nation Businesses, said that “Arkansans will reject this sneaky amendment.”
“It is important for voters to know that Issue 2 is the only thing standing in our way of breaking ground on the $300M Legends Resort & Casino near Russellville, an economic development super project that is licensed, county-approved, and bringing 1,000 jobs and millions in new tax revenue,” Burum said. “Vote against Issue 2.”
The decision comes just in time for the start of early voting on Monday, Oct. 21.
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