Pope County casino repeal campaign reports meeting first hurdle to get on ballot
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Fair Play Arkansas, the Choctaw Tribe-financed effort to repeal the Arkansas Constitution’s legalization of a casino permit in Pope County, said it submitted 100,000 signatures on its proposed constitutional amendment today. That’s about 11,000 more than needed, if all are qualifying registered voters and distributed among 15 counties.
But stiffened state law requires a group to have 75 percent of the required signatures and 75 percent of the counties to qualify for a period to “cure” a shortage with additional signatures. Submission of signatures also begins a 30-day process in which the state Board of Election Commissioners must certify the ballot title and popular name.
The group’s news release denounced the effort financed by the Cherokee Nation — which won a permit to open a casino in Pope County but is awaiting completion of court cases — to discourage people from signing the repeal amendment petitions. Cherokee Nation Businesses fired back in kind.
Fair Play has roots in Pope County residents who’ve long opposed a casino in the county, through legal action, election of county officials who oppose the casino and then an amendment campaign, which was supercharged by more than $2 million in Choctaw contributions. The Choctaws operate Oklahoma casinos and seem to be protecting that turf, though the Cherokee Nation also has Oklahoma casinos and sees Pope County as a potentially good market. The Oaklawn casino in Hot Springs is at least an interested observer in this effort, given its close proximity to Russellville.
Pope County voters rejected the casino amendment, but their vote couldn’t override the dictates of the amendment, which requires issuance of a permit in Pope County, if supported by the county judge, quorum court or mayor of a city in which the casino would be located. County Judge Ben Cross supports the Cherokee permit.
Repeal of a Pope County permit wouldn’t appear to affect the casinos at Oaklawn, Saracen in Pine Bluff and Southland in West Memphis, all authorized by the same constitutional amendment. But there are some who think fiddling with a constitutional amendment risks unforeseen consequences.
Here’s the release from Fair Play Arkansas:
The “Fair Play for Arkansas – 2022” (Fair Play) ballot question committee announced today that it has submitted over 100,000 signatures to be validated by the Arkansas Secretary of State for the November ballot. State law requires 89,151 signatures from qualified electors.
Spokesman Hans Stiritz said, “We’re extremely grateful for the support from voters across the state who signed our ballot petitions, allowing us to submit the signatures required to qualify for the ballot and move onto a statewide campaign. The citizens of Pope County are asking to be treated like our neighbors in the 74 other counties: we don’t want a casino mandated in our community. Now the voters of Arkansas will have the chance to support local control and end this corrupt process in Pope County once and for all.”
Stiritz also noted that canvassers will continue to collect signatures in the coming weeks, in anticipation of multiple legal challenges.
Additionally, Fair Play called on the state to investigate the Arkansas Tourism Alliance – a ballot committee opposing Fair Play’s efforts – for potential petition fraud. “Our canvassers have faced assault, physical intimidation, harassment and other threats – they have even been offered bribes by representatives of the opposing committee to discard legally gathered signatures. This appears to be a serious legal and ethical violation and should be investigated by state law enforcement.”
According to Fair Play, these tactics have increased in recent weeks, around the time the Arkansas Tourism Alliance is shown to have hired “Let the Voters Decide, LLC,” a company owned by Mark Jacoby.
According to reports filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, the Arkansas Tourism Alliance paid $650,000 to Jacoby, who was convicted of voter fraud in another state and is frequently criticized for his aggressive tactics.
“Dustin McDaniel and David Couch, the registered agents for the Arkansas Tourism Alliance, should immediately sever ties with Jacoby, condemn violence and intimidation, and stop offering bribes to canvassers to destroy legally gathered signatures. Arkansans deserve a fair political process, not coercion and threats.”
I expect in due course to hear from the other side with competing allegations of dirty tactics by Fair Play. Couch has already gone on social media with accusations about Fair Play and canvassers who’ve allegedly misrepresented what their amendment is about. The Arkansas Tourism Alliance has about $1.1 million from the Cherokee Nation to fight the Fair Play repeal.
If the repeal hits the ballot there will be a jackpot in TV advertising from the competing sides. If they can find time to buy after Sarah Huckabee Sanders vacuums up $10 million or more worth.
“Considering the historical validity rate of petitions in the state of Arkansas, as well as the population of registered voters, indications are strong that based on what Fair Play says it will submit today (they have not yet arrived for turn in so we do not know the exact number), they will not meet the minimum numbers required to initiate the petitions. Furthermore, a mountain of evidence exists to challenge significant improprieties pertaining to Fair Play’s signature gathering efforts, including gross misrepresentation by canvassers of the ballot petition’s purpose, employment of persons with criminal backgrounds, and improper notarization of petitions. We remain optimistic and will continue the fight to keep the constitutional amendment voters approved in 2018 intact, keeping billions of dollars in tax revenue and thousands of good-paying jobs in the state of Arkansas.” – David Couch, Attorney for Cherokee Nation Businesses
The petitions include the ballot title and popular name.
