Arkansas Casino Measure Taken to Supreme Court Over Questionable Signatures

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday began a trial that could overrule a proposed casino amendment. 

A lawsuit challenged the validity of the amendment, which requires communities to hold a special election to vote on casino projects. This comes one week after the state Supreme Court removed an abortion amendment from the ballot due to a bookkeeping error.

The lawsuit was filed the day after Secretary of State John Thurston approved the amendment for the ballot. It was submitted by the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee (ACCC) on August 1, the same day the committee was formed.

Were signatures collected legally?

Special Master William Wright was selected to hear the arguments in the case. 

In addition to requiring a special vote, the amendment in question would strip Pope County of its casino license. 

The ACCC is arguing that the measure was improperly advanced to the ballot due to the acceptance of fraudulent signatures. Thurston signed off on more than 162,000 signatures collected in all 75 counties and submitted by ballot question committee Local Voters in Charge.

The ACCC alleges that out-of-state residents were paid to spread misinformation while helping to collect signatures. Interestingly, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, whose headquarters is some four hours and change away from Pope County, provided a $5.3 million donation to Local Voters in Charge.

John Tull, an attorney for the ACCC, stipulated that Arkansas law prohibits groups from paying or offering to pay workers for collecting a certain number of autographs. Thereby, the signatures collected by paid workers should be invalidated. 

Elizabeth Robbern Murray, an attorney representing Local Voters in Charge, confessed on Tuesday that a fraction of enlistees were paid for their work. The paid assistants collected 1,500 signatures in total, she claimed. 

Possible loss of license

The ACCC is not alone in its claims of wrongdoing. Cherokee Nation Entertainment, which holds the Pope County casino license, said the Local Voters in Charge breached legal rules while collecting signatures.

Murray questioned Thurston heavily on Tuesday. Thurston revealed that his staff drafts content and adds his electronic signature to documents, including those regarding the abortion amendment. 

He also said he was “embarrassed [his office] had it wrong for so long” when discussing his decision to reject signatures on ballot initiatives from non-sponsors but does not “defend error.”

Arkansas has three operational, state-licensed casinos: Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, and Southland Casino in West Memphis.

The Arkansas Racing Commission awarded the Cherokee Nation the rights for its casino license on June 27. The planned project would be named Legends Resort Casino in Russellville and would cost around $300 million.

Estimates suggested that the casino would open in 2026, though that is now in question due to the legal challenge.