Judge Mulling Whether Ballot ‘Error’ Dooms Cedar Rapids Casino

• Judge weighs if 2021 referendum misled Linn County voters
• Riverside Casino claims ballot wording invalidates gaming license
• Cedar Rapids casino plans hinge on upcoming legal ruling

The wording of a ballot referendum that ostensibly authorized gambling in Linn County, Iowa, could decide the fate of a long-anticipated casino in the city of Cedar Rapids, local newspaper The Gazette reports.

After hearing oral arguments Wednesday, Eighth Judicial District Judge Michael Schilling will decide whether the language of the ballot was “defective” and “misleading.” He has 60 days to make a ruling that will either make or break the casino.

Confusing Language?

The 2021 ballot was the second time Linn County voters had appeared to approve casino gaming. An earlier vote held in 2013 was set to expire, and the second referendum was designed to extend it indefinitely to allow the Cedar Rapids Development Group (CRDG) to apply for licensing for a proposed $275 million casino.

“In a county where there was no gambling going on, a proposition requiring the approval or defeat of gambling games should ask the voters to approve the commencement or initiation of gambling,” argued Mark Weinhardt, an attorney for Riverside, as reported by The Gazette. “It can’t ask them to continue existing gambling games” when such games didn’t exist.

Licensed Issued

CRDG is a collection of local businesspeople who want to build the casino on land owned by the city. On February 6, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted 4-1 to approve a gaming license for the project.

Riverside, which could do without the commercial competition from the proposed casino, sued, arguing the Commission shouldn’t have been permitted to issue the license because the ballot that purportedly authorized gaming was flawed.

But on Wednesday, Sam Jones, an attorney for the Linn County Gaming Association, argued that people knew exactly what they were voting for.

There were 420 written comments that were submitted to the Gaming Commission both in favor and in opposition to the license,” Jones told the court. “Notably, none of those comments expressed confusion about the language of [the measure] or suggested that others may have been confused by it.”

If it goes ahead, the casino, which will be called Cedar Crossing Casino & Entertainment Center, will boast a gaming floor with 700 slot machines, 22 live-dealer table games, and a sportsbook.

There will also be restaurants, a 1,500-seat entertainment venue, an arts and cultural center, and a cutting-edge STEM lab.