LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that votes for the casino amendment are now one step closer to being counted on Election Day.
Votes that are cast in November for Issue 2 will in fact be counted after the court ruled that the group that has been pushing to block the casino amendment did not provide enough evidence.
The court said that canvassers allegedly broke rules while gathering signatures which was enough evidence to have all of their signatures tossed out.
The case also threatened to derail the efforts to remove Pope County as a potential location for a casino in Arkansas.
However, there is another argument that still needs to be decided.
The Arkansas Supreme Court promised to release a ruling on whether or not the entirety of the ballot title and popular name is misleading. They are supposed to release that sometime in the near future.
The Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee, the group against Issue 2, released the following statement in response to the Arkansas Supreme Court’s announcement:
"While disappointing, we still await the Court's decision on the ballot title challenge. 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. Voters will see this as a bad deal — out-of-state billionaires trying to manipulate Arkansans into changing the constitution to benefit their own self-interest. If passed, Issue 2 would cost Arkansans thousands of jobs and much-needed tax revenue, including funding for our roads,” said Allison Burum, Spokesperson for the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee.
For more information on how Issue 2 could reshape casino licensing in Arkansas, please click here.