Arkansas Secretary of State asks Supreme Court not to count casino amendment votes

Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court not to count votes on the Amendment 2 ballot initiative that could kill a casino project in Pope County. That ballot measure would, in part, determine if Pope County should have its casino license revoked. 

The brief argues that the procedures for signature gathering were improperly followed, meaning that the initiative should not have been placed on the ballot. Procedures in error cited in the brief included that paid signature gatherers were not correctly certified and were improperly paid, and that the petitions turned in to the secretary of state were not properly certified.

A specific issue was that paid canvassers certified the ballots they turned in instead of being approved by the ballot sponsor, Local Voters in Charge, as required by Arkansas law. The filing centers on the interpretation of the ballot certification law. The argument in the brief aligns with a brief submitted by the casino license holder, Cherokee Nation Entertainment, LLC, a week earlier. 

A response to Thurston’s brief was filed quickly by representatives of Local Voters in Charge, the ballot initiative sponsor. The group asserts that proper procedures were followed and confirmed by the special master before Thurston’s filing. The special master, Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Randy Wright, was appointed by the Supreme Court in August to resolve any factual disputes while expediting the court process. His final finding of fact was turned in to the Arkansas Supreme Court on September 9.

Wright’s findings included a list of paid canvassers who acted outside Arkansas law for signature gathering by using false addresses on their affidavits. Wright removed those signatures from the total, leaving 110,234 signatures in place for the ballot initiative in his report, well above the 90,704 required for certification. Thurston argues that Wright is mistaken about the legal framework for signature gathering.

The state supreme court ordered all briefs to be filed by September 26. If the ballot initiative passes, it would also require future casinos to be approved by county vote prior to a license being issued, alongside revoking the Pope County casino license.