[ Home ]

[ Slots News ]

No Slots for Scarborough

It turns out that the rumors were untrue. Slot machines will not be coming to the Scarborough Down racino of New Hampshire, despite many indicators showing that the vote was trending in the other direction. The disappointing news arrived almost two days after Election Day itself, due to errors with the polling equipment in the precinct in question. Both those for and against the slot games were forced to sit on their hands and wait for an extended period while the Supervisor of Election’s office scrambled to execute a hand-count of the over eleven thousand absentee votes that were cast after a tallying machine broke down and reset itself to zero counts. As Scarborough voters had a three-page ballot (broken down into national, state, and local-level elections), this was no easy feat.

Those in favor of installing slot machine devices at the ageing and struggling racino were defeated by a margin of less than three hundred votes. It was galling news for those who had worked hard towards getting the measure passed. Gambling proponents claimed that installing the slots at Scarborough would stimulate new income and create new jobs, along with preserving the livelihood of those working in the horse breeding and farming industries… both of which have become imperiled with the uncertain future of on of the state’s largest racetracks.

Obviously, a small but significant majority of voters remained unconvinced about the merits of the machines. Many residents expressed concerns over the potential rise in problem gambling that could come about as a result of the legalized slot machine gambling at Scarborough. 

Back to November 2008 Archive.