Issue 2 passes, Pope County casino dead; Issue 1 receives voter approval

Tens of millions of dollars spent for and against an effort to block construction of a casino in Pope County with a constitutional amendment resulted in the passage of Issue 2. Voter approval of the issue means a Pope County casino will not be built.

Arkansas Secretary of State numbers show that 55.8% of voters were for Issue 2 as of 11:45 p.m. However, 55.6% of Pope County voters were against Issue 2 – an amendment based on the belief that voters should have a say about having a casino in their county.

Voters overwhelmingly approved Issue 1 with 89.7% of the vote as of 11:45 p.m. Issue 1 was a referred constitutional amendment from the Arkansas General Assembly that would expand the use of lottery proceeds so that they can be used to fund scholarships for Arkansas citizens enrolled in vocational- technical schools and technical institutes. The popular legislative referral was pushed by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, and Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock.

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery was approved by voters in 2008. Since that time, the Lottery has provided students more than 770,000 scholarships totaling $1.4 billion.

ISSUE 2
Issue 2 was 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.

The Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) on June 27 issued the casino license in Pope County to Cherokee Nation Entertainment. The action followed several legal moves between competing casino operators that have stalled casino construction in the county.

Local Voters in Charge were behind the constitutional amendment that would nullify a Pope County casino license approved by voters statewide in 2018. The amendment would require future casinos to first to be approved by a majority of voters in a special election in the counties where they would be located.

‘EPITOMY OF IRONY’
Pope County Judge Ben Cross, who lobbied against Issue 2, provided this statement: “In what is undoubtedly the epitome of irony, Pope County voters definitively made their voices heard once and for all on the casino issue by soundly defeating Issue 2 in our county. While 74 other counties once again decided an issue for us, it is interesting to note those closest to the issue, our neighboring counties, likewise defeated Issue 2. The fact Issue 2 was defeated in Pope County does provide affirmation that all the hard work that Legends Resort and Casino devoted to investing in our region was validated in this election. To my fellow mayors, city councils, J.P’s, business owners, and our communities, thank you for your steadfast support of this project. In the second aspect of irony, the very group that advocated for local control, effectively ripped it away in this election by running a $17 million dollar anti-casino campaign with another casino’s money.”

“The passage of Issue 2 will have a direct and regressive impact on our County, and the entire River Valley for that matter. It is simply a missed opportunity that will not be replicated in terms of scope, investment, and jobs. As a driving source of progress, from our smallest communities to our largest, they all had critical infrastructure projects relying on the significant economic investment this meant to each of them. Our schools will miss millions in new funding, our volunteer fire departments will have to sacrifice new equipment purchases, our cities will struggle for sewer and water improvements. For the County, we lose not only the direct economic development funds, we lose the opportunity for a new courthouse annex, and a host of other priority infrastructure projects that are desperately needed to provide essential services to our citizens. While I anticipate almost certain litigation will ensue, I am also acutely aware such litigation could take years to resolve with an array of possible outcomes. Therefore, we as a County, will persevere, and continue to provide the best services we can with the
resources we have.”

Officials with Local Voters in Charge did not provide a statement as of this posting.