by Michael Tilley (mtilley@talkbusiness.net)

Tens of millions of dollars spent for and against an effort to block construction of a casino in Pope County with a constitutional amendment resulted in the passage of Issue 2. Voter approval of the issue means a Pope County casino will not be built.

Arkansas Secretary of State numbers show that 55.8% of voters were for Issue 2 as of 11:45 p.m. However, 55.6% of Pope County voters were against Issue 2 – an amendment based on the belief that voters should have a say about having a casino in their county.

Voters overwhelmingly approved Issue 1 with 89.7% of the vote as of 11:45 p.m. Issue 1 was a referred constitutional amendment from the Arkansas General Assembly that would expand the use of lottery proceeds so that they can be used to fund scholarships for Arkansas citizens enrolled in vocational- technical schools and technical institutes. The popular legislative referral was pushed by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, and Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock.

Issue 2 passes, Pope County casino dead; Issue 1 receives voter approval