Arkansas Supreme Court asked to disqualify ballot measure that would block planned casino

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Opponents of a proposal to block a planned casino in Arkansas asked the state Supreme Court Thursday to disqualify the measure from the November ballot.

Cherokee Nation Entertainment, which was awarded a license to build and operate the casino, and a newly formed affiliated group filed a lawsuit challenging the proposed constitutional amendment a day after the secretary of state’s office said it qualified for the ballot.

The lawsuit accuses the ballot measure campaign, which is funded by Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, of violating several laws regarding signature gathering. The suit also challenges the wording of the ballot proposal, calling it “riddled with flaws.”

“Arkansans must be made aware of this deliberate scheme to openly violate Arkansas laws regarding canvassing and to mislead and confuse voters,” said Dover Mayor Roger Lee, an officer with Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee, which filed paperwork Thursday with the state to campaign against the measure.

A spokesperson for Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston, who is named as the defendant in the case, declined to comment. Local Voters in Charge criticized the lawsuit and said said it was committed to fighting the challenge.

“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,” Hans Stiritz, a spokesperson for the group, said in a statement.

The lawsuit claims that canvassers hired by the campaign were paid or awarded prizes based on the number of signatures obtained, in violation of state law, and that they made repeated false statements about the measure when gathering signatures. The lawsuit also claimed that the initiative campaign failed to register and certify paid canvassers.

Thurston’s office on Wednesday said Local Voters in Charge had turned in more than enough valid signatures from registered voters to put it measure on the ballot.

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.

The state Racing Commission in June awarded Cherokee Nation Entertainment the license for the casino.