Opponents petition court to block anti-casino amendment

Opponents of a citizen-led proposed constitutional amendment that would revoke the Pope County casino license said Aug. 1 that they are petitioning the Arkansas Supreme Court to have the measure removed from the November ballot.

The Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee (ACCC), a ballot question committee that registered with the Arkansas Ethics Commission that day, says the amendment’s backers failed to comply with Arkansas law in numerous ways.

The group said that Local Voters in Charge (LVC) canvassers:
• Fraudulently obtained signatures by misrepresenting the petition’s purpose and making false statements;
• Violated Arkansas law by paying bonuses to canvassers based on the number of signatures they collected, such as $100 for 100 signatures, and providing them gift cards for collecting a certain number;
• Failed to certify that all canvassers had no disqualifying criminal offenses and also used canvassers that had disqualifying offenses;
• Failed to register signature solicitors who coached canvassers in real time;
• Employed canvassers who are not residents of Arkansas;
• Failed to properly train canvassers; and
• Otherwise failed to register and certify paid canvassers.

“Considering the nature of the systemic problems outlined above and LVC’s unlawful signature collection program, no signature collected by a paid canvasser should have been verified,” the court filing said.

The ACCC is asking the court to compel Secretary of State John Thurston to remove the measure from the November ballot. The group provided surreptitiously obtained videos of canvassers saying the amendment was pro-casino. In one video, two canvassers said it would allow a casino in Little Rock. One canvasser in another video said the amendment would allow a casino in Russellville, adding “We’re trying to get them all over Arkansas.”

The lawsuit also argues that the effort’s popular name and ballot title don’t inform voters that an existing license has been revoked. The license was awarded on June 27 to Cherokee Nation Entertainment for its Legends Resort & Casino, planned for Russellville. The award occurred after the proposed amendment had already been certified by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin.

The petition also says the taking of that license potentially would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Takings Clause, Contracts Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause.

It says Local Voters in Charge has received $5.3 million from the Choctaw Nation, which operates eight casinos in Oklahoma. The parking lot for the one in Pocola is located in Fort Smith. It is 92 miles from the site of the proposed Pope County casino. The Choctaw Nation unsuccessfully applied for the license. It also contributed $4.133 million to a similar earlier effort, Fair Play for Arkansas, in 2022.

Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee’s attorneys include David Couch; the law firm of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull; and the McDaniel Wolff law firm.

In addition to revoking the Pope County license, the proposed amendment would also require a local county election in any county where future licenses are approved anywhere in the state. The court filing says that imposing restrictions on future amendments is “legally impossible and, thus, deceptive.”

Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee members include Dover Mayor Roger Lee, Jennifer McGill and Nick Patel of Russellville, and Cherokee Nation Businesses. The latter is the parent company of Cherokee Nation Entertainment.

Local Voters in Charge has not responded to a request for comment.

Natalie Ghidotti, vice chairman of Investing in Arkansas, another ballot question committee that is being funded by Cherokee Nation Businesses, released a statement saying, “We have said from the beginning that the group pushing this casino amendment has lied to Arkansas voters about what it will really do, which is rob Arkansas of economic growth at the expense of protecting out-of-state business interests. Today, we’re seeing more of the same lies surface. Arkansans should vote ‘NO’ on this dishonest casino amendment if it makes the ballot in November. Arkansas jobs and millions of dollars in economic impact are at stake. A vote AGAINST this amendment in November is a vote FOR the growth of Arkansas.”

The filing of the lawsuit came one day after Secretary of State John Thurston verified that Local Voters in Charge had collected 116,200 valid voter signatures among the 162,181 it submitted, qualifying it for the ballot. It was required to submit 90,704 valid ones.

“It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that Cherokee Nation Businesses has filed a lawsuit that seeks to silence the voices of 116,000 Arkansas voters who want something that could not be more reasonable: a statewide vote to give local voters the final say on whether a casino should be built in their community, or not,” Local Voters in Charge spokesperson Hans Stiritz said in a statement. “We are fully committed to ensuring that the people of Arkansas will not be deprived of having their say on this important issue.”

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%.