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Is MD Referendum Wording a “Bait and Switch” Tactic?

The foes of slot machine gaming in Maryland are going all out to try and stop a ballot initiative to make these controversial gambling devices legal. The latest tactic in their aggressively anti-slot game arsenal has been an attempt to change the ballot language of the referendum to a summary more descriptive of where the proceeds of the devices will go. Currently, the ballot language describing the proposed slot law states that its proceeds will go towards education. That is technically true, but critics argue that the many caveats to that statement that have been left out constitute a lie to voters.

Irwin R. Kramer is the lawyer that was hired by the slot machine foes to argue their case. Kramer told a three-judge panel that the slot gaming lobby was out to purposefully mislead the citizens of Maryland, and that the ballot wording in comparison to what they would actually be getting with the slot referendum constituted a “legislative bait-and-switch.” The majority of state slot proceeds would, in fact, be spent on education – but Kramer and the anti-slot group want the ballot language to mention how the rest of the money will be spent. Funding horse racing purses is just one of the controversial uses of this new source of state income.

The office of the state Attorney General, who drafted the language in the first place, has argued that the wording of the measure is “technically correct,” and should not be changed. With only one hundred words to describe the nature of a referendum, Assistant Attorney General Austin C. Schlick said.

Back to September 2008 Archive.