Bally’s Ozarks Casino Referendum Moves Closer to November Ballot in Missouri

Posted on: August 1, 2024, 12:44h. 

Last updated on: July 31, 2024, 03:01h.

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

A political campaign seeking to ask Missouri voters whether they support authorizing riverboat casino gambling on the Osage River in the Show Me State continues to make progress.

Ozarks casino Missouri referendum
A political campaign to allow a casino in the Ozarks on the Osage River near the Bagnell Dam continues to make progress. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office is in the final stage of validating signatures to place the ballot referendum before voters in November. (Image: CBS 13)

Tuesday was the deadline for local county election officials to turn over troves of voter signatures canvassed in late 2023 and earlier this year by supporters of the Osage River Gaming & Convention (ORGC) to Missouri State Secretary Jay Ashcroft’s office. In May, the ORGC submitted more than 320K signatures from Missouri voters.

After assembling the boxes of pages supposedly showing voters’ support for the casino referendum, state officials sent the petitions to their respective counties for validation. County officials working with their respective clerk’s office compared the voter’s name and signature with the records on file used to allow that individual to vote.

For the casino question to reach the November ballot, a minimum of 171,592 signatures must be verified. Proposed state constitutional changes must be signed by 8% of voters based on the most recent gubernatorial election in any six of the state’s eight congressional districts.

Deadline Met?

Ashcroft’s office imposed a 5 p.m. local deadline for county election officials to return the validated Ozarks casino petition reports. Ashcroft’s staff will now verify a 5% random sample of the submitted petitions to again compare the voter’s signature against the voter’s signature on file.

ORGC reps said there were no issues with Missouri’s 114 counties meeting the July 30 deadline. Supporters of the casino push believe they have far more than enough voter support for the referendum to reach the ballot.

This amendment would allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue one additional gambling boat license to operate on the portion of the Osage River from the Missouri River to the Bagnell Dam,” the proposed referendum would read.

If a simple majority vote “yes,” the Missouri Constitution would be amended to allow a riverboat casino with slot machines and table games along the Osage River. Currently, the Missouri Constitution only allows riverboats on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Missourians might also determine whether to authorize in-person and online sports betting through a separate proposed ballot referendum that Ashcroft’s office is validating.

The Osage Nation is campaigning heavily against the casino referendum. The tribal group claims it has historical ties to the Lake of the Ozarks and should be allowed to run a tribal casino there. The Osage Nation’s sovereign reservation is located in northeastern Oklahoma along the Missouri border.

Bally’s Concerns?

The Osage River Gaming & Convention consists of numerous local and regional investors. The collective last fall partnered with Bally’s Corp. to help develop and subsequently run the casino boat and hotel should state voters authorize the project.

Bally’s, however, has recently been dealt a series of credit downgrades on poor business operations and concerns that the company is becoming over-leveraged financially.

Bally’s found a real estate investment trust — Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. — to bankroll the bulk of its $2 billion casino resort in Chicago, but ongoing negative press about the gaming operator could persuade some Missourians to vote against the casino referendum should it come before them on November 5.