Arkansas Supreme Court rejects challenge to ballot measure that would revoke casino license

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday rejected part of a lawsuit challenging a measure on the ballot that would revoke the license issued for a planned casino.

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, which had been awarded the license to build the casino in Pope County earlier this year, sued 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, did not submit required paperwork about its paid canvassers. The special master also rejected the lawsuit’s claim that the group violated a ban on paying canvassers per signature.

Local Voters in Charge said it was grateful for the ruling.

“Issue 2’s message of 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 spokesperson for the group, said in a statement. “We look forward to the court’s final decision on the ballot language challenge, with hope that the vote of the people will be counted on Issue 2 in November.”

Ads regarding the casino measure have been blanketing Arkansas’ airwaves. 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 for a Pope County casino that has been hung up by legal challenges for the past several years. Pope County was one of four sites where casinos were allowed to be built under a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2018. Casinos have already been set up in the other three locations.

“While disappointing, we still await 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.”

Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press