JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Although an appeal could be in the offing, a Missouri judge Friday ruled that a question asking voters if they want to legalize sports betting will remain on the Nov. 5 statewide ballot.
In a rapid-fire decision, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green rejected an 11th-hour lawsuit that raised questions about whether proponents of the sports wagering question had collected enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for a position on the ballot.
鈥淟awsuits seeking to remove an initiative petition from the ballot after it has been certified as sufficient by the Secretary of State are highly disfavored,鈥 Green wrote in a 12-page ruling.
The Winning for Missouri Education political action committee, which is bankrolling the ballot initiative, called the decision 鈥渁 big victory for Missourians.鈥
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鈥淔or too many years, Missourians have watched as fans cross state lines to place sport bets, which deprives our Missouri public schools of much needed funding,鈥 the PAC said in a statement.
The plaintiffs in the case, two political consultants represented by Republican attorney Marc Ellinger, did not respond to a request for comment. The final day to remove proposed constitutional amendments from the ballot is Tuesday, requiring any appeal to be immediately addressed by a three-judge panel in Kansas City on Monday.
In arguments before Green Thursday, opponents of the proposed ballot question said they determined that the effort to collect the required amount of signatures to place the matter before voters fell short in the 50度灰视频 area.
Ellinger said local election officials 鈥渋mproperly counted鈥 as many as 768 signatures in the 50度灰视频 area 1st Congressional District.
Examples outlined in testimony included signatures linked to dead people, convicted felons and people who have moved out of Missouri.
Kevin Oglesby, a manager for National Political Consultants Inc., testified Thursday that he reviewed petition signatures and voter registration cards and compiled a list of those he believes election officials incorrectly counted as valid.
He acknowledged under cross examination that he was being paid $15,000 for his work on behalf of the opponents.
But Green dismissed that argument, writing that Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft used a proper and legal method to certify the signature count.
鈥淧laintiffs鈥 evidence on disqualified voters was not sufficient to establish that a signer was not a legal voter on the day they signed the petition,鈥 Green wrote.
To make the ballot, proposed initiative petitions must receive signatures from 8% of legal voters in six of the state鈥檚 eight congressional districts.
The initial lawsuit argued that Ashcroft should have taken the statewide vote total for the 2020 gubernatorial election, multiplied that by 8%, and divided that total by eight to get the proper signature threshold for each congressional district.
That would鈥檝e set the threshold for each district at 30,122, and would鈥檝e meant the current 1st Congressional District had fewer signatures than needed to make the ballot, the lawsuit said, putting ballot access out of reach for the question.
The drive to legalize sports betting comes as 38 other states have allowed the practice following a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to the expansion. Previously, wagering on athletic events was limited to Nevada.
With the Republican controlled Missouri Senate unable to find agreement on the issue, sports betting giants DraftKings and FanDuels paired with Missouri sports teams to put the question directly to voters. The campaign has raised more than $6.5 million.
The measure would set the sports betting tax rate at 10% and allow Missouri鈥檚 professional sports franchises, including the 50度灰视频 Cardinals, Blues and the city鈥檚 professional soccer team, as well as the state鈥檚 13 casinos to operate retail and online sports betting.