Signatures submitted for tribal racino plan

AUGUSTA – Maine’s Passamaquoddy Tribe made good on its pledge Monday and turned in more than 61,000 petition signatures in an effort to place the question of a Washington County racino before the voters in November.

Election officials at the Maine Secretary of State’s Office now have until March 1 to determine whether at least 50,519 of the signatures were legally collected and signed by legitimate voters. Tribal Rep. Fred Moore, Rep. Eddie Dugay, D-Cherryfield, and Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, were certain they would meet or surpass the threshold needed to place the question on the ballot.

“Obviously, we’re a little bit disappointed that we’re forced to ask Maine citizens to support us again,” Moore said. “We are confident that our question will appear on a ballot and believe that we’ve concluded this stage of the process. … This is really a reflection of the partnership that’s developed between the tribe and its neighbors in Washington County.”

About 25 minutes before the state’s 5 p.m. deadline, a dozen tribal members and other supporters arrived at the State Office Building bearing several boxes filled with petitions. The tribe would like to build a commercial racetrack and slot machine complex somewhere in Washington County modeled after the Hollywood Slots facility that opened last fall in Bangor.

Should the Secretary of State’s Office conclude that the tribe has met all of the criteria necessary to place its proposal on the ballot, the question then would be sent to the Legislature, which could enact it as written, change the actual date of the vote from November to June, or simply allow the proposal to go forward onto the Nov. 6 ballot.

Dennis Bailey of Casinos No! said Monday night that gambling opponents are considering whether to stage a campaign to defeat the question if the tribe is successful in getting it on the ballot.

“If it ends up on the ballot, we’ll have to decide what to do,” Bailey said. “Washington County is the poorest county in the state, and this would make it even poorer. A second racetrack will lead to a third and a fourth and a fifth. They won’t be able to stop.”

Meanwhile, the delivery of the signatures is apt to have some impact on members of the Senate, which could take up an order requiring the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee to report out a bill to create the racetrack and racino. Although the order was defeated 17-16 last Thursday, two members were absent, and Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, asked to hold the bill over for possible reconsideration after voting with the majority.

The order has faced opposition in the Senate, where many members are unhappy with the tribe’s desire to limit the vote to Washington County only. Senate Majority Leader Michael Brennan insisted that allowing a single county to become exempted from a Maine law barring gambling with the exception of the Bangor facility would represent a “poor precedent.”

In 2003, Maine voters overwhelmingly rejected an Indian-supported initiative to build a $650 million casino in the southern part of the state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.