LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Thursday, the Arkansas Supreme Court denied a petition by the Cherokee Nation to remove Issue 2 from this November’s ballot.
Issue 2 would repeal a license for a planned Cherokee Nation casino in Pope County.
The court’s decision ensures that Arkansans will be able to decide whether or not they want a fourth casino in Arkansas, specifically in Pope County.
“This is a great day for the state of Arkansas, to get that final confirmation from the state supreme court that our ballot initiative, our ballot proposal is a valid, clean proposal that should be voted on by the state of Arkansas and the votes counted,” said Hans Stiritz, spokesman for Local Voters in Charge, the Issue 2 ballot question committee funded by the Choctaw Nation.
The Cherokee and Choctaw Nations have wrestled over who gets to build a casino in Pope County with the last of four casino licenses created in Amendment 100 in 2018, which allows for only four casinos in the state.
When the Cherokee Nation was awarded the license earlier this year, a group funded by the Choctaw Nation called Local Voters in Charge campaigned to get Issue 2 on November’s ballot.
The proposed amendment to Arkansas’s constitution would repeal the fourth Pope County casino license mandated under Amendment 100—currently held by the Cherokee Nation—and require countywide votes to award casino licenses, rather than just the approval of the Arkansas Racing Commission.
“It’s about respecting the rights of local citizens to determine the character of their own community, especially when it comes to casinos,” Stiritz said.
But many officials in Pope County are strong supporters of the Legends Resort and Casino that the Cherokee Nation has already purchased land for.
The Cherokee Nation has also made an economic development agreement with Pope County and will give cities, nonprofits, and universities in the county nearly $40 million if the casino is allowed to begin construction.
“12 of the 13 quorum court members, the five mayors in Pope County, all want this project to happen. This is a huge revenue generator for that part of the state,” said Natalie Ghidotti, vice chairman of Investing in Arkansas, a ballot question committee backed by the Cherokee Nation.
“There’s no Arkansans that have invested into Local Voters in Charge, it’s strictly out-of-state gaming interests—the Choctaw—who have funded this, and it’s all an attempt to stifle economic development and use the state constitution to eliminate their competition,” said Pope County Judge Ben Cross.
Cross and others say the Choctaw Nation is campaigning so hard against the Cherokee Nation casino because it would be located a mere hour from the Choctaw casino just over the Oklahoma border near Fort Smith.
“To obviously preserve their interests at the state line,” Cross told KATV.
Both sides have accurately accused the other in campaign ads of being backed by out-of-state gambling interests.
“I really think it’s beyond the pale for them to call us out for receiving that support when the entirety of their support, $9 million of support, was offered by an out-of-state casino to fight our amendment to squash the rights of local voters to stand up for what’s happening in their communities,” Stiritz said.
The Cherokee Nation has donated $2.8 million to Investing in Arkansas, while the Choctaw Nation has donated $5.6 million to Local Voters in Charge.
These figures do not represent the total expenditures for both sides in their campaigns, however.
One thing everyone voting should know is that if Arkansans vote for Issue 2, that will mean it would take another constitutional amendment to bring in a fourth casino in the state, because, again, Issue 2 eliminates the fourth slot for a casino in the state.
“So, it is not easy to get another casino from here on out if people vote yes for this,” Ghidotti told KATV.
And just to be extra clear one last time, voting yes on Issue 2 means no casino in Pope County.
Voting no means the Cherokee Nation will be able to construct its planned casino there.
To read the economic development agreement between the Cherokee Nation and Pope County, see the document below.
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