The backers of a citizen petition to create a casino in York County have filed a Superior Court appeal against a ruling by Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap alleging that not enough valid signatures were gathered to bring the proposed casino to November’s statewide election.
On March 2, Dunlap announced that only 36,000 of the more than 91,000 signatures submitted by petitioners could be validated. According to the Bangor Daily News, the threshold to make the statewide election ballot is 61,123 — far above the number of validated signatures.
The ballot question committee that was formed to support the casino, Horseracing Jobs Fairness, spent around $156,000 through the end of December in a hasty and controversial signature-gathering effort.
Some signature gatherers claimed in January that they weren’t being paid on time, while a Bangor city councilor accused the group of using misleading tactics to obtain signatures for the petition.
Read more
Hollywood Casino fighting with city of Bangor over tax valuation
York casino referendum circulators claiming nonpayment for work
Court upholds Secretary of State’s casino petition rejection
