Posted Sept. 08, 2011, at 5:11 p.m.
Secretary of State Charlie Summers spends a lot time in his Sept. 6 BDN commentary ( “The truth about the ballot question process”)
praising the process that allows Maine residents to comment on proposed
ballot questions — then bashes me for taking part in that process.
Let’s set the record straight. CasinosNO! and others wrote to Summers
last month because we felt that the ballot question he wrote for the
proposed Biddeford racetrack casino was inadequate and misleading.
Summers doesn’t include his draft question in his commentary, but it
simply asked, “Do you want to allow a slot machine facility at a harness
racing track in Biddeford …?”
Had no one complained, that’s likely the question that voters would have faced when they enter the ballot booth this November.
But we objected to the wording of the ballot initiative because the
law in question doesn’t even mention Biddeford and in fact allows
numerous communities within 25 miles of Scarborough Downs
to host the new slots facility. We felt it was important that voters,
especially those residing in the affected communities, were alerted to
the fact that they weren’t just voting on a Biddeford slots parlor, they
were potentially voting for one in their community too.
Thankfully, the Bangor Daily News,
The Ellsworth American and ultimately Summers himself agreed. He
changed the wording of his proposed draft to accommodate our concerns.
The question now asks, in part: “Do you want to allow a slot machine
facility at a harness racing track in Biddeford or another community
within 25 miles of Scarborough Downs, subject to local approval …?”
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