Cherokee Nation Asks Arkansas Supreme Court to Toss November Casino Referendum

Posted on: August 27, 2024, 05:54h. 

Last updated on: August 28, 2024, 08:57h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Cherokee Nation Entertainment, LLC, controlled by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has petitioned the Arkansas Supreme Court to pull a planned ballot referendum that would ask Arkansans to rescind a casino license earmarked for Pope County.

Cherokee Nation Arkansas Supreme Court
Local Voters in Charge submitted boxes of voter signatures to Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston’s office in July. A rival political committee is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to dismiss the ballot referendum that seeks to revoke a gaming license in Pope County. (Image: Arkansas Times)

In June, Nation Entertainment was awarded the gaming concession for Pope County by the Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC).  

A rival tribe in Oklahoma, the Choctaw Nation, has funded a political action committee in Arkansas called Local Voters in Charge. Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston earlier this month said Local Voters in Charge submitted enough resident signatures, which were validated by his office, to place the ballot referendum before voters in November.

Local Voters in Charge is seeking to amend Arkansas’ 2018 gaming law to allow ARC to issue casino licenses only for projects in counties where the local electorate wants them.

The 2018 statewide ballot referendum that authorized commercial casinos in Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, and Pope counties was backed by voters in 64 of the state’s 75 counties. Pope County was one of the 11 county outliers.

Arkansas Supreme Court Appeal 

The Cherokees are fighting against Local Voters in Charge through their political task force called the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee. In a Monday filing with the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Cherokee-backed committee says Local Voters in Charge violated statutory requirements for collecting signatures for its initiative petition.

The Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee says the alleged canvassing grievances are similar to the issues that the Arkansas Supreme Court determined invalidated a proposed ballot referendum that sought to restore abortion rights. The state’s high court ruled in a 4-3 decision that the abortion committee failed to comply with state canvassing laws.

The Cherokees’ pretrial brief asks the court to remove the Local Voters in Charge question from the statewide ballot on several grounds, including that the group failed to certify paid canvassers, compensated canvassers based on the number of signatures collected, and provided incorrect residential addresses for several canvassers. The court filing also claims Local Voters in Charge failed to register and certify canvassing captains as required in Arkansas and fraudulently induced signatures.

“Due to these violations of Arkansas law, the Initiative Petition should not have been certified, and the proposed amendment to Amendment 100 should not be on the ballot for the November 2024 election,” the filing read.

Tribal War

The Choctaw Nation is seeking to protect its tribal casinos in eastern Oklahoma. Pope County’s Russellville, where the Cherokees are planning to build a $300 million destination called Legends Resort & Casino, is about 75 air miles east of Choctaw land.

Local Voters in Charge wants to change Amendment 100 of the Arkansas Constitution so that an already-licensed casino cannot operate in Pope County. But Local Voters in Charge violated statutory requirements for collecting signatures for the required Initiative Petition,” the petition continued.

The Arkansas Supreme Court said earlier this month that it would expedite the matter so that election officials have adequate time to possibly amend the ballot. The court has appointed Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Randy Wright to serve as a special master on the case who will help move along the pretrial briefing process and settle factual discrepancies between the two sides to allow the seven justices to quickly determine a resolution.