Organizers of the campaign that gathered signatures to place Missouri sports betting legalization on the ballot this fall have denied allegations of impropriety.
Two Missouri residents, Jacqueline Wood and Blake Lawrence, filed a lawsuit last week asking a judge to halt the ballot proposal. The suit claims that both the acquisition and approval of signatures were not performed properly.
The political action committee that collected the signatures, along with the president of the St. Louis Cardinals, contend the suit has no merit, and one of the plaintiffs lacks standing to sue.
Suit claims Secretary of State’s Office used wrong map
In May, Winning for Missouri Education submitted more than twice the required number of signatures from Missouri registered voters to the Secretary of State’s Office. The PAC’s initiative sought to place a Missouri sports betting question on November’s ballot.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Office certified the initiative. The suit comes as proponents begin work to persuade enough voters to approve the sports betting referendum in November.
The plaintiffs claim the committee did not gather the requisite signatures needed in one congressional district, which includes St. Louis. By law, valid signatures must account for at least 8% of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election in at least six of the eight Missouri districts.
Further, the lawsuit claims Ashcroft’s Office used the incorrect formula to tabulate the signatures in regards to the 8% requirement. The plaintiffs say older district boundaries were used, as opposed to the new lines drawn since the 2020 US Census. If the Secretary of State’s Office used current district lines, the ballot proposal initiative would have fallen shy of the required signatures in two districts (one of them Kansas City).
Lawyers for Winning for Missouri Education contend the PAC properly followed guidelines when gathering the signatures. In fact, the effort exceeded the threshold. Also, they claim Wood is not eligible to sue because she did not sign the ballot initiative. As a result, she cannot claim damage.
Court hearing coming up
The clock is ticking on the issue. Absentee ballots are slated to be available on Sept. 24, giving the courts less than a month to rule on the legal challenge. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5 in Cole County Circuit Court in Jefferson City.
Polls show Missourians support legalized sports betting, though not by a large margin. Professional sports teams in Missouri strongly back the ballot proposal. The St. Louis Cardinals, in particular, have overwhelmingly expressed support.
The team’s president, Bill DeWitt, scoffed at the lawsuit.
“This effort to decertify our ballot initiative is completely without merit, as Missourians came out in force to sign the petition that will be on the ballot in November.”
