This year she planned to have it erected after getting a 9-7 vote from the Tribal Council, but one member said the voters should have a say whether the 35,800 square foot gaming facility should be constructed.<\/strong><\/p>\nAnderson disagreed and said that tribal leadership had the authority to make such a decision and resisted any efforts to challenge the result. It was the third time she had attempted to get the development green-lighted.<\/p>\n
Opponents Mobilized<\/h2>\n
Barry McMillan, who serves on the tribal council, disagreed with the chief and said the voters should have the right to decide. He and others began a petition to get a referendum on the ballot. When they presented 1,730 in early May the Tribal Election Committee rejected 130 of the signatures leaving them 24 short of what was needed for the special vote.<\/p>\n
The group appealed the decision saying the process was flawed. They took the case to the court and on Aug. 16 Tribal Judge Jeff Webb ruled in their favor and said they had enough valid signatures for the referendum.<\/p>\n
McMillan was optimistic about the vote going in his favor because of the petition drive and he was proven correct. He said a majority of the sovereign nation was worried about the estimated $25 million price tag, especially since the group had spent $70 million to renovate and reopen Golden Moon Casino two years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians\u00a0decided by a margin of more than 2-1 to reject a proposed fourth casino known as Red Water. The vote occurred last Thursday, but was made official on Tuesday after absentee ballots were counted. Of the 11,000 eligible voters only 2,230 turned out with the casino being rebuffed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":63828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Choctaw Nation Rejects Fourth Mississippi Casino by Wide Margin<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n