Casino Group Turns In Double Amount Of Signatures Needed In Ohio

Once upon a time there was the Million Man March. It was an effort to be heard, a plea that things in the US had to change. Now, in Ohio, there are the 850,000 signatures. That is the amount of people who have signed their name to endorse casino expansion in the state.

The Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee delivered over 850,000 signatures to the secretary of the state's office. The group was required to have 402,000 signatures submitted by July 1st in order for the casino issue to make it back to the ballot in November.

Ohioans have had their opportunity to vote casinos into law before, and they have turned it down each time. This time, however, they are seeing neighboring states expand their gambling options, and are starting to see what casinos could bring to Ohio.

"These are different times than in the past," said observer Travis Belkin, "the state budget is getting tighter, and people cannot afford higher taxes. So logically it makes sense that people would change their opinions."

The initiative that would go to the ballot in November would call for sweeping changes to the casino policy in the state. It would ask that four new casinos be built, one each in Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, and Cleveland.

The signatures must be certified by state elected officials before the next step occurs. Groups have turned in thousands of signatures before, only to have them discredited for various reasons.

The Growth Committee did a good job of representing all counties with the signatures. They were only required to get signatures of half of the eighty-eight counties in Ohio, but they far surpassed that expectation by acquiring signatures from every county in the state.

June 25, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Submit News!