Arkansas voters will finally get a chance to weigh in on whether their state should authorize two new casinos and expand gaming options at two racetrack casinos.
On Wednesday, the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office announced that pro-casino lobby group Driving Arkansas Forward (DAF) had obtained 99,988 valid signatures on a ballot petition, exceeding the 84,589 signatures required for the casino question to appear on this November’s election ballot.
Issue 4 on the November 6 ballot seeks to authorize one new casino in each of Jefferson and Pope counties, while allowing the slots-only casinos at the Oaklawn and Southland racetracks to add live table games and sports betting.
DAF is largely driven by two Oklahoma Indian tribal groups, the Quapaw tribe’s Downstream Development Authority and the Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC. These two groups provided the overwhelming bulk of the $2.3m that DAF raised to fund its casino ballot quest.