Missouri judge rejects move to remove sports betting initiative from November ballot
Opponents questioned whether the question had received enough signatures.
US.- Cole County judge Daniel R. Green had rejected an attempt to remove the sports betting question from the November ballot in Missouri. Opponents of the measure filed suit last month, arguing that the Secretary of State’s office had mishandled the process for verifying signatures on the petition for the code. They claimed the measure fell short by more than 600 valid signatures.
Winning for Missouri Education, the campaign to legalise sports betting called the ruling “a big victory for Missourians.”
“For too many years, Missourians have watched as fans cross state lines to place sport bets, which deprives our Missouri public schools of much needed funding. A vote for Amendment 2 in November will bring those dollars back to Missouri classrooms,” said spokesman Jack Cardetti.
The Winning for Missouri Education coalition submitted more than 340,000 signatures to get the sports betting question on the state’s general election ballot. The St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis CITY SC and the Kansas City Current support the initiative.
Missouri would tax sports betting at 10 per cent, with $5m allocated to a fund intended to help prevent compulsive gambling. The remainder would go to public schools and higher education.
A majority of Missourians appear to support legalised sports betting. A poll released in March found that 60 per cent believed betting on professional sports should be legalised while 25 per cent were opposed. The remaining 14 per cent said they were not sure.
