A campaign group dedicated to establishing a commercial casino in Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft Tuesday in a bid to get the issue on the ballot.

Last week, Ashcroft rejected a proposed ballot measure from the Osage River and Gaming Convention (ORGC) group, citing an insufficient number of valid signatures.

The group argued that they had submitted over 320,000 signatures, surpassing the required threshold, which demands support from 8% of legal voters in at least two-thirds of the state’s eight congressional districts. However, Ashcroft stated that the campaign was short by 2,031 signatures in the 2nd Congressional District.

‘Mistakes Happen’

The ORGC suggests that the Secretary of State’s Office may have mistakenly rejected over 2,500 valid signatures. The group acknowledges the challenges of verifying signatures and admits errors can occur. Confident that their petition met the required number of valid signatures, ORGC is now asking the Court to place the measure on the November 5, 2024 ballot. Signatures can be rejected for various reasons, such as the signer not being registered, providing false information, or signing multiple times.

Bankrolled By Bally’s

The ORGC, which is bankrolled by Bally’s and local property developer Gary Pruitt, would ask the electorate whether Missouri’s constitution should be amended to expand casino gaming. Currently, it only permits casinos on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The proposal would create one casino license for the Lake of the Ozarks.

If it ever gets off the ground, the proposed project will create 500 construction jobs and 700 permanent jobs once it opens, according to the ORGC. Tax revenues from the casino would go to early childhood literacy programs in public schools.

Eyes On The Ozarks

The ORGC isn’t the only group interested in establishing a casino in this popular tourist area. The Osage Nation, which operates seven casinos in Oklahoma, has applied to the Department of the Interior to place local land into trust for Missouri’s first tribal gaming facility.

For the casino to be approved so far from the tribe’s reservation, the Interior Department must confirm the tribe’s ancestral ties to the area.

The Osage Nation’s historical territory once included much of present-day Missouri, and the nearby Osage River is named after the tribe. However, the approval process could take years.

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