Arkansas Supreme Court rejects challenge to ballot measure that would revoke casino license
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday dismissed part of a lawsuit challenge a measure on the ballot initiative that would revoke the permit for a planned casino.
The justices unanimously rejected the lawsuit’s claims that the measure should be disqualified for violating several laws regarding signature gathering. The court has yet to rule on a second part of the lawsuit challenging the wording of the ballot measure.
Cherokee Nation Entertainment, that had been the license granted to build the casino in Pope County earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed along with an affiliated group, the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee.
A special master appointed by the court to review evidence disagreed with the lawsuit’s claim that Local Voters in Charge, the group behind the measure, had failed to file required paperwork on the paid canvassers. The special captain also rejected the lawsuit’s claim that the group violated a ban on paying prospects per signature.
Local voters in charge said they were grateful for the ruling.
“Issue 2’s message about local voter control — that communities should have the final say on a casino in their own hometown — is resonating across the state,” Hans Stiritz, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement. “We look forward to the court’s final decision on the voting language challenge, hoping that the people’s vote will be counted for Issue 2 in November.”
Advertisements related to the casino measure have covered the airwaves of Arkansas. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has donated $5.6 million to Local Voters In Charge. Cherokee Nation Businesses has donated $2.8 million to Investing in Arkansas, the group campaigning against the measure.
The proposed amendment would revoke the license granted to a Pope County casino that has been bogged down by legal challenges in recent years. Pope County was one of four locations where casinos were allowed to be built under a constitutional amendment voters approved in 2018. Casinos have already been set up at the other three locations.
“While disappointing, we are still awaiting the Court’s decision on the ballot title challenge,” Allison Burum, spokesperson for the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee, said in a statement. “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.”