A referendum asking Missouri voters whether they want a constitutional amendment that would allow sports betting in the Show Me State is now facing a legal challenge that could jeopardize its appearance on November’s ballot.
Challenging the Count
Political consultants and Missouri residents, Blake Lawrence and Jacqueline Wood, filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court challenging the methodology in which Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and his staff certified the votes to get an amendment to the state’s constitution allowing mobile sports betting in the state.
The argument is predicated on the new congressional district lines drawn in 2022 that the suit states should have been the basis for how many certified votes per district. The lawsuit alleges that the previous congressional lines were used as the basis for determining the necessary number of signatures for each district, however, the new district lines determined where those who signed the petition lived.
More than 340,000 signatures were presented to the Secretary of State’s office but only 170,000 needed to be verified. The suit contends that a faulty count shows that only four of the eight counties in the state had an accurate number of signatures.
Winning for Missouri Education is the political action committee (PAC) formed by the state’s six professional sports franchises including the Cardinals, Royals, Chiefs, Blues, Current, and City FC to bring sports betting to the Show Me State. The PAC was tasked with collecting signatures and campaigning for sports betting in Missouri. It is also supported by FanDuel and DraftKings, the two digital sports betting industry leaders contributing a combined $10 million to the group.
Fighting Back
Not surprisingly, Winning for Missouri Education filed a legal action to intervene “and for such other relief as this Court deems appropriate.” St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said in a statement, “This effort to decertify our ballot inactive is completely without merit, as Missourians came out in force to sign the petition that will be on the ballot in November.”
The question that will be on the ballot, assuming the legal challenge by Lawrence and Wood is thwarted, will read as follows:
“A ‘yes’ vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to permit licensed sports wagering regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission and restrict sports betting to individuals physically located in the state and over the age of 21. The amendment includes a 10% wagering tax on revenues received to be appropriated for educational institutions in Missouri.
“A ‘no’ vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution regarding licensed regulated sports wagering.
“Now that we are officially on the ballot we’ll be over the next two and a half months talking to Missourians across the state about why it makes sense to set up a legal sports betting framework that helps public education,” said campaign spokesman Jack Cardetti.
Winning for Missouri Education’s mantra will be that the 10% tax on sports betting revenues will fund state education needs and take the onus off the taxpayers. A recent poll conducted by Emerson College and Nexstar Media showed only 38.3% of voters are in favor of mobile sports betting in the state while another 26.3% remain undecided.
