Trouble For A Lake Of The Ozarks Casino? Millions Spent, But Signatures May Fall Short

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Will a Lake of the Ozarks casino be on the ballot for Missourians in November? It's suddenly looking less probable.

Investors in Osage River Gaming & Conventions spent millions this year on a signature-collection campaign to get a question in front of Missouri voters: should the state constitution be changed to allow a casino on the Osage River?

A site has been identified, Bally's has been announced as a partner, and revenue numbers have been thrown around; but first, investors need enough signatures to get the question on the ballot.

Planned Site Of Osage River Gaming & Convention Casino

Despite confidence from the group that they had gathered more than enough signatures, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Tuesday that the attempt had failed. Missouri's complex initiative petition process requires a certain number of votes from a certain number of Missouri's eight congressional districts: a total of 170,000 votes from six of the districts.

More than 300,000 signatures were collected, the group reported, but those are subject to a verification process, which always results in many signatures being discarded for various reasons.

The Post-Dispatch reported a review of state records showed not enough verified signatures had been collected in three of those districts, supposedly sinking the group's plans.

But a spokesperson for the casino group says it's not over yet.

"We are confident we have collected enough signatures to quality for the November ballot. Meanwhile, our legal team is assessing our next steps. We are confident that after all the signatures are counted and verified we will appear on the November 2024 ballot," Ed Rhode, a spokesman for the organizers, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

A legal battle could be on the table: in 2022, a petition to get legalized marijuana on the Missouri ballot was nearly killed by the verification process, which is conducted by county or local-level election authorities. But the group behind the petition reached out to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for help, arguing many of the ballots that were thrown out should not have been. Within weeks, Ashcroft's office had certified there were enough signatures and had placed the issue on the ballot.

Opponents sued, but the Western District Court of Appeals concluded Ashcroft's office had acted rightly, and the petition was allowed to be on the November 2022 ballot.

Voters passed it.

Casino supporters say that instance is evidence that, despite this week's setback, there's still a chance for a casino at Lake of the Ozarks.