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Video Lottery Casino ruled a no go in DC
August 4
Yesterday, the District of
Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics voted against
allowing thousands of signatures provided to them in favor
of a video lottery casino.
Those in favor of the video
lottery casino were attempting to get a referendum put onto
the November ballot, and needed 17,599 signatures from valid
registered voters in DC. While it is unclear how many
signatures were not allowed during Tuesday's meeting,
backers of the referendum have said that the ruling will
make it very hard to get their plan on the ballot.
Casino supporters propose to put
as many as 3,500 video lottery terminals in a lower class
neighborhood approximately 3 miles northeast of the U.S.
Capitol. It is stated that there will be no table games and
slot machines. The 14 acre project that would include a
hotel, stores, and restaurants would cost an estimated $510
million and create as many as 1,500 jobs. It is also stated
that it would produce $210 million in local tax revenue.
Those in support of the casino
turned in over 50,000 signatures mostly gathered on the
Fourth of July weekend during a 5 day petition bonanza,
after opponents fell short in their efforts to block the
petition. It is said that because signature had to be
gathered so fast, many details that required attention were
not given a chance, and were over lookede.
A special meeting has been
scheduled by the District of Columbia Board of Elections and
Ethics to figure out whether or not the initiative meets the
requirements to actually get on the ballot. Before they
decide that, they will also review the remaining signatures
to see if are enough valid ones, and if they have meet the
required 5% of registered voters in 5 of DC's eight sectors.
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