The fate of the Missouri sports betting ballot initiative could be decided Thursday.
The Circuit Court of Cole County will hold a hearing Thursday on Jacqueline Wood Et Al v. John Ashcroft, a case challenging the certification process to put Missouri sports betting on the November ballot. Ashcroft, the Secretary of State, certified the MO sports betting on August 13.
Political consultants Wood and Blake Lawrence filed the lawsuit August 21 following the certification. Along with Ashcroft, Winning For Missouri Education, the committee behind the ballot initiative, will also defend the question’s certification.
Missouri sports betting lawsuit claim
Winning for Missouri Education turned in approximately 370,000 petition signatures ahead of the May 5 deadline. The initiative needed at least 170,000 signatures, including 8% of voters in at least six of eight congressional districts, to qualify for the ballot.
The suit claims Ashcroft determined the signature quantities using the results from the 2020 gubernatorial election. It then argues he used a redrawn congressional map from after the election to determine where the signatures were gathered.
The change in map borders would have resulted in insufficient figures in the 1st and 5th Congressional Districts, according to the suit. If those arguments are found valid, the ballot petition would only have enough signatures in four of eight districts.
Missouri denials in sports betting case
Through the Missouri Attorney General, Ashcroft denied the allegations in the suit, according to an answer filed in court last week.
The court found Winning for Missouri Education to have an interest in the case, as the committee said it has a better position to defend the process than Ashcroft. The committee filed a response and said there are enough signatures regardless of which district map the Secretary of State uses.
The committee also argues it received approvals throughout the process from Ashcroft and “denying the question access to the ballot as a result of government actions would violate the First Amendment right to Petition the government. Only Winning for Missouri may assert that claim/argument.”
Who is behind Missouri lawsuit?
Wood and Lawrence are consultants largely working for Democratic clients.
Marc Ellinger, the chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, leads the team of attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
Ellinger has represented several casino operators and gaming equipment suppliers in Missouri. This spring, he represented the Missouri Gaming Association in a case against video lottery terminals in the state.
Missouri gambling entities quiet
While DraftKings and FanDuel have contributed more than $10 million to Winning for Missouri Education, brick-and-mortar casino companies in Missouri, including Penn Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment, have remained quiet.
Despite supporting legislative attempts in recent years, the Missouri Gaming Association has also remained on the sidelines during the initiative and lawsuit.
Multiple industry sources told LSR that land-based casinos are unhappy with the license language in the ballot question. Rather than multiple skins for the casino operators as in prior legislation, the ballot allocates one per operator and professional sports team, while also allowing two untethered sports betting licenses.
MO sports betting ballot setup
Should voters approve sports betting, the framework would include an online license for each of the state’s six casino operators and six teams. The Missouri Gaming Commission could also allocate two standalone online licenses.
Missouri sports betting tax would be set at 10%.
The most recent Missouri sports betting polling shows at least 50% of voters support sports betting.
