Backers of an initiative proposal have sued Secretary of State Kate Brown. Initiative 76 would have allowed a single non-tribal casino in the state. Secretary Brown announced on July 27 that the initiative did not contain enough valid signatures and would not be on the November ballot. Casino developers have filed suit against the secretary of state, alleging that the state's random sampling method is flawed, and that the petition did in fact have enough valid signatures.
This isn't the first suit filed this year over signature verification. Backers of Initiative 50, a redistricting measure, also sued when their signatures were declared insufficient. They said the state's rules for judging which signatures were eligible for the verification process was unfair. The court disagreed on Monday, saying the process was fair and the petition lacked sufficient valid signatures. Initiative 50 backers have not said whether they will appeal that decision.
A separate casino measure, Initiative 77, did qualify for the Oregon ballot on Tuesday. It would authorize a single privately-owned casino in Multnomah County. The problem is that backs need both Initiative 77 and Initiative 76 to pass. 76 would create an exception in the state constitution providing for a non-tribal casino, and 77 would authorize the backer's casino. Without passage of 76, Initiative 77 is meaningless.
