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Secretary Jennifer Brunner Investigates Casino Proposal Irregularities

Casino supporters submitted adequate petitions to place the issue before voters in November 2009, although Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has started an investigation into alleged questionable activities in the signature gathering process on July 20th, 2009. Brunner's office stated that 452,956 signatures were submitted by the Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan, the organization pushing to allow casino facilities at specific locations in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus.

The organization needed 402,275 to reach the referendum. It passed more than 850,000 signatures last month. Supporters say that the casinos will make more than thirty-four thousand jobs and have an $11 billion economic effect from casino construction-related activities and the first 5 years of operations. Aside from that, supporters say that the projects would give $200 million in licensing costs and $650 million in tax revenues for the state, cities, counties and school districts.

Four previous casino facility issues have been dismissed by voters, including one last November 2008 that would have constructed a casino in the southwestern Ohio. A lawsuit on the new filing is in the works. A horse racing track in Columbus filed legal action with the Ohio Supreme Court on the casino issue, stating that the circulators of the casino proposal misrepresented their names and home addresses.

The lawsuit further stated that one of the circulators is a convicted felon, thus, ineligible to get signatures. Brunner said that while she no longer has the power to invalidate individual signatures, she can still investigate the allegation to ensure the honesty of the whole process and prevent any problems from coming up in the near future.

 

Wednesday, August 19 , 2009
Victor Copeland