Arkansas becomes casino country
On Nov. 6, for the second election cycle in a row, Arkansas voted for vice. Issue 4, a constitutional amendment authorizing four casinos in the state, was approved by 54 percent of voters on Election Day 2018 — an echo of the vote on the medical marijuana amendment that Arkansans approved by a similar margin in 2016.
Note that the state also overwhelmingly supported Republicans both years. Maybe it's the influence of Donald Trump or maybe it's some larger cultural slouch toward Gomorrah, but social conservatism just isn't what it used to be. Many GOP voters in Arkansas seem increasingly comfortable with sinful behavior, at least when it has the potential to be entertaining.
The passage of Issue 4 was no foregone conclusion. Arkansans rejected ballot initiatives that would have amended the state Constitution to allow casino gambling in 1984, 1996 and 2000. That didn't discourage gaming interests from continuing to try: In 2012 and 2016, proposed amendments were placed on the ballot, only to be disqualified by the Arkansas Supreme Court because of problems with the wording of the ballot title.
Issue 4 faced two legal challenges of its own, but in October the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of Driving Arkansas Forward, the committee behind the measure. Little Rock attorney Alex Gray, counsel for Driving Arkansas Forward, said the Supreme Court ruling was half the reason this amendment succeeded when so many other attempts had failed.
Read more: https://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/arkansas-becomes-casino-country/Content?oid=25648105
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