Oklahoma State Question No. 672 (1998)
From Ballotpedia
Oklahoma's State Question 672, also known as Initiative 363, was an citizen-initiated constitutional amendment. It failed with 138,030 voters supporting the initiative, and 304,756 voters in opposition.
The official ballot summary reads:
Considered in 2/10/98 special election. This measure adds a new article to the Oklahoma Constitution. The new article deals with gambling. The new article legalizes: a. Slot machines and roulette, b. Craps, keno and video gambling, c. All gambling played with cards, dice, mechanical devices or computers, and d. Other forms of gambling. For the first five years there could only be four non-Indian gamblig facilities. Those facilities are: 1. Remington Park Racetrac, 2. Blue Ribbon Downs Racetrack, 3. A facility in Tulsa, and 4. A facility in Love County. An appointed Commission would regulate and license this gambling. After five years, other gambling facilities could be licensed. There could not be more than one facility in any county. Gambling facilities would have to meet minimum standards. The measure would allow Indian tribes to request an agreement to operate a gambling casino. This measure makes gambling debts incurred at authorized casinos legal and enforceable. State taxes on the new gambling would fund the Commission, and help education and prisons. Some tax funds would go to local governments where State licensed gambling is conducted. [CA][1]
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Support
The organization officially supporting 672 was called "Better Opportunities for Oklahoma's Students & Taxpayers" or BOOST. This group conducted a petition drive to collect sufficient signatures to place the measure on the ballot.
Edward DeBartolo Jr., owner of the Remington Park pari-mutuel horse race track in Oklahoma City, backed the signature drive financially, but later pulled out of the project.
Opposition
Gambling opponents in Oklahome filed a lawsuit aruging that the measure should not appear on the ballot because it encroached on federal law and violated the state's single-subject rule. That challenge failed, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the measure onto the ballot.[2]
Status
This amendment failed with 138,030 voters supporting the initiative, and 304,756 voters in opposition.
See also
- List of Oklahoma ballot measures
- Procedures for qualifying an initiative in Oklahoma
- Laws governing the initiative process in Oklahoma
- Campaign finance requirements for Oklahoma ballot measures
- Oklahoma 1998 ballot measures
- Oklahoma signature requirements
