(The Center Square) – Voters will get a chance to approve a casino at the Lake of the Ozarks in November after a judge overturned the secretary of state’s ruling keeping it off the ballot.
Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on Friday issued a two-page judgement stating Osage River Gaming and Convention, the group that gathered signatures to get the measure on the ballot, had met the requirement.
“Based on the stipulated evidence this court finds that the proponents of the initiative submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures of registered voters is six of the eight congressional districts as required by Article III, Section 50 of the Missouri Constitution,” Judge Green wrote in his decision.
He ordered Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s certificate of insufficiency be reversed, a new certificate of sufficiency be issued and certify to local election authorities the initiative be placed on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
Ashcroft’s office sent a letter to Greta Bax, the person listed as the contact person on the initiative petition, on Aug. 13 stating there were an insufficient number of valid signatures in 2nd, 6th and 8th congressional districts, meaning the drive failed to get 8% of registered voters in six of the eight districts. Ashcroft reported 36,099 signatures were needed in the 2nd District, which includes the western portion of St. Louis County and expands from Warrenton to the north to Sullivan to the south. The office verified 45,800 signatures but found only 34,068 valid signatures.
Judge Green’s ruling stated there were 36,153 valid signatures, 152 more than the amount required. The ruling stated 2,085 additional valid signatures were presented by the plaintiffs.
“No party has requested findings of fact and conclusions of law,” Judge Green wrote in the ruling. “No evidence was presented against any of the facts entered in the joint stipulation, and no evidence was presented that any signatures previously counted as valid were not, in fact, valid. The court finds that the facts stipulated the parties are sufficient and credible to enter judgment, and such facts form the factual basis for this court’s judgment.”
Judge Green also wrote the timelines necessary to get the initiative on the ballot led to the court dispensing with any further findings.
“During the initiative petition review process local election authorities were tasked with checking well over 1 million signatures,” JoDonn Chaney, director communications for the secretary of state, wrote in an email to The Center Square. “From their reporting, the secretary of state’s office determined the Osage River Gaming petition was just short of the required signature count for ballot certification. After a challenge by the petitioner it was determined that enough additional signatures could be verified to place the petition on the November ballot.”
The 13 casinos currently operating in the state are required by law to be located on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Adding a casino requires a simple majority of voters to amend the Missouri Constitution and authorize the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue a gambling boat license.
The ballot language states the casino will be on the Osage River from the Missouri River to Bagnell Dam. All state revenues derived from the gambling boat license will be appropriated to early-childhood literacy programs in elementary public schools.
Ashcroft’s office faces lawsuits from other groups attempting to remove initiatives from the ballot. Legal challenges were filed to remove Amendment 2, which would allow sports wagering in Missouri, and Amendment 3, which would remove the state’s ban on abortion.
