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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Ohio High Court Allows Vote on Racetrack Slots

(CN) - The Ohio Supreme court granted a voters' group a 90-day extension to place a referendum on the November ballot challenging the placement of up to 17,500 video slot machines at horse tracks.

Members of LetOhioVote.org object to the video lottery provisions of Ohio House Bill 1, which authorizes each of Ohio's seven horse tracks to add up to 2,500 electronic slot machines, for a potential total of 17,500.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland ordered the Ohio Lottery Commission to install the machines in a July 13 directive.

Justice O'Donnell ruled that the provisions are not an appropriation for government expenses and are therefore subject to referendum.

"The video-lottery-terminal provisions ... do not fall within any of the exceptions to the right of referendum in that they are neither laws providing for tax levies, nor appropriations for the current expenses of state government, nor emergency laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety," O'Donnell ruled.

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