Missourians Sue to Block Sports Betting Measure from November Ballot

Two Missouri citizens are suing to remove a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing sports betting on the state’s 5 November ballot. Political consultants Blake Lawrence and Jacqueline Wood have accused Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft of incorrectly conducting the certification procedure whether the petition had met the necessary criteria for inclusion on the ballot.

The Measure May Not Have Amassed Enough Votes

Local news outlet The St. Louis Post Dispatch revealed that the suit, filed in Cole County Circuit Court, claims Ashcroft used the new boundaries for congressional districts, created after the 2020 Census, to determine where petition signers lived but then used the old boundaries to calculate the number of signatures necessary in various districts.

According to the complaint, had the correct procedure been followed, the 1st Congressional District of St. Louis and the 5th Congressional District of Kansas City in Missouri would have missed the threshold of required signatures to forward this new amendment. The lawsuit further asserts that most signatures verified within the congressional districts were legally invalid, further affecting the proposal’s eligibility.

The threshold for a petition to make the ballot in Missouri requires signatures from 8% of the legal voters in six of the state’s eight congressional districts following the most recent gubernatorial election. The lawsuit accuses Ashcroft of not using a uniform statewide figure to calculate the signature requirements. Instead, he used varying thresholds based on previous district boundaries.

Legalized Wagering Could Bring Significant Benefits

The proposed amendment would set a sports-betting tax rate of 10% and allow Missouri’s professional sports franchises and the state’s 13 casinos to operate their retail and online sports-betting platforms. Proponents say the move would generate millions of dollars for the state and would merely legalize something many residents already do, either illegally or via out-of-state operators.

Team mascots for the Royals, Blues, and Cardinals helped deliver the boxes with the signatures, highlighting sports teams’ robust support for legalized sports betting. Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals and a key backer of the sports betting amendment, called the lawsuit’s merit into question, noting that the petition had received significant support from all across the state.

The lawsuit has been assigned to Cole County Circuit Judge Cotton Walker, who will issue a verdict on whether the sports betting measure will remain on the ballot or be struck down. This case may have sweeping implications for Missouri’s gaming landscape and the broader debate around the legalization of sports betting in the state.