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ME Referendum Ballot Language Barely Scratches the Surface

Voters in Maine will be given the opportunity to vote on what could become the state’s very first slot machine casino when the general election is held on November 4th. Question 2 will ask citizens whether they approve the opening of “the only casino in Maine” by “a certain [state] company.” The ballot language mentions that the proposed gambling establishment would be located in Oxford Country, and that “part” of the casino’s revenue would go towards funding “specific state programs.” A “yes” vote would be in favor of the slot game casino, and a “no” would reject the idea. Sounds simple, right? The problem is that the draft of the actual proposal is pages and pages long!

Things that are missing from the issue wording as it will be set before voters include the following. First of all, if the referendum is passed, citizens living within the specific municipality that is to be home to the new casino will have to vote in favor of it before the last day of the year. The legislation explicitly permits the casino to house baccarat, blackjack, dice, poker, and roulette tables; slot machines; lottery and bazaar games, Bingo, and money wheels. Currently, Maine does not allow more than fifteen hundred registered slots within state boundaries – the new law would repeal that, but impose the same upper limit on the amount of a lot machines permitted at a racino.

The new casino would be the only gambling establishment allowed within Maine for a decade. It would be operated by Evergreen Mountain Enterprises, LLC, who are not named on the ballot. The new casino would be required to fork over almost forty percent of its income to the state, to go towards miscellaneous programs and initiatives.

It would lower the minimum age to work at a gambling establishment from twenty to eighteen, and lower the minimum age to play a slot machine from twenty-one to nineteen years old.

Back to September 2008 Archive.