Supreme Court rules that Pope County casino amendment proposal will stay on ballot

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday (Oct. 17) that a proposed constitutional amendment to block construction of a Pope County casino and require local votes for future casinos will remain on the November ballot.

In a majority ruling written by Justice Karen Baker, the state’s high court determined that the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee (ACCC) challenge to reject the ballot title of Issue 2 as insufficient was not warranted. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court ruled against ACCC’s challenge to kick Issue 2 off the ballot due to improper signature collections.

“In sum, we hold that the popular name and ballot title are an intelligible, honest, and impartial means of presenting the Proposed Amendment to the people for their consideration. We hold that it is an adequate and fair representation without misleading tendencies or partisan coloring. Therefore, as to Count II, we deny the petitioners’ request to remove the measure from the ballot,” the opinion said.

Justice Shawn Womack dissented.

Issue 2 is a constitutional amendment that would require local voter approval in a countywide election for any future casino licenses while also repealing the state’s authority to issue a casino license in Pope County and revoking the existing casino license that has been issued in Pope County.

On July 31, 2024, Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston certified Issue 2 for the ballot after Local Voters in Charge (LVC) submitted around 116,200 valid voter signatures, more than the required 90,704 to be certified as constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

ACCC made several arguments that the ballot title for Issue 2 was misleading or insufficient. The Supreme Court rejected those arguments offering several conclusions including:

“We reject the petitioners’ argument that the popular name and ballot title are insufficient because they fail to disclose that CNE [Cherokee Nation Enterprises] has already been issued a license and that Choctaw will greatly benefit from this measure. A popular name need not identify all future scenarios… [B]ecause so little is required of a popular name, we have never held a proposed measure invalid solely because of an incomplete description of the act by the popular name… The popular name is an identification tool and simply cannot explain every eventuality of the actual amendment.. Further, the ballot title is not required to account for every possible occurrence that might impose some effect upon the amendment’s operation. Accordingly, we are not persuaded by the petitioners’ argument that the popular name and ballot title fail to provide sufficient information to the voters.”

“[T]he popular name, when read together with the ballot title, contemplates the very scenario before us and is not misleading… The dissent takes issue with our holding on this point. However, we note that at the time the popular name and ballot title were drafted and certified, there was uncertainty as to the status of the license because it had not yet been awarded… The language employed by the drafters is not misleading and in fact anticipated that while a license had not yet been awarded, it could be.”

“The petitioners’ final argument is that the ballot title fails to disclose conflicts with federal law. Specifically, they argue that the Proposed Amendment violates the Takings Clause, Contracts Clause, Equal Protection Clause, and Procedural Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. They also contend that the Proposed Amendment violates, or at least amends, sister clauses of the Arkansas Constitution… Unlike the clear conflict with federal law in Lange, there is no such conflict at issue here.”

You can access the full decision at this link.

In 2018, voters statewide approved licenses for casino operations in Garland, Crittenden, Jefferson and Pope counties. Casinos are now operating under those licenses at Oaklawn Racing & Gaming in Hot Springs, Southland Casino Hotel in West Memphis, and Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff.

That 2018 amendment passed easily across Arkansas, 54% to 46%. It also passed easily in the three counties that now have casinos. But voters in Pope County, where Russellville is located, opposed it, 61% to 39%.

“We know 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 $300 million Legends Resort and Casino near Russellville, an economic development super project that is licensed, county-approved and bringing over 1,000 jobs and millions in tax revenue. Vote against Issue 2,” said Allison Burum, spokesperson for Legends Resort and Casino Arkansas, which is the Pope County casino license holder with Cherokee Nation Entertainment.