There have been only 10 states in United States which do not have any casinos. Many of them have already passed the legislation allowing the brick and mortar casinos in their states.
State of Nebraska seems to have joined that club where pro-gambling lobby succeed in making the construction of casinos an issue for the November’s ballot.
In Nebraska, ballot system is in place for deciding on many issues relating to the interest of general public. Since a long time, the state was divided in its opinion on legalization of casinos.
The pro-gambling had been trying hard to make this issue as an agenda for next ballot, which was constantly being rejected by Nebraska Secretary of State Robert B. Evnen.
Evnen wanted to keep the issue of ‘expanded gambling’ out of the scope of November ballot, calling it as a rash decision if expanded gambling agenda is put to vote in November. In an earlier press conference in August he had stated that, the petitions fail to comply with the single subject rule in the Nebraska Constitution and are confusing.
The last date for filing the list of issues was September 11, 2020 wherein Evnen blocked the attempts and denied the agenda to be included in November’s ballot. The request was denied even though the signatures for the issue exceed the required minimum number. The organization Keep the Money in Nebraska had filed various petitions before Secretary of State for issue at hand, which were denied.
Following the denial, the pro-gambling lobby appointed a prosecutor for themselves and approached State’s highest judicial institution, Nebraska Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that the petitions were not in violation of the single subject rule and should be made part of ballot to be conducted in November.
Following the decision of Nebraska Supreme Court, Evnen stated that, “The Secretary of State is required by statute to issue determinations as to whether initiative petitions are legally sufficient. I did my best to make those determinations on a timely basis … Today the Supreme Court issued its decisions concerning these petitions. I respect the rule of law and I will certify the ballot in compliance with the Court’s orders”, reported Card Player news.
If voters pass the initiative at the polls this November, both casinos and sports betting will become legal in Nebraska.