Nebraska Casino Question Removed from Ballot

Secretary of State John Gale said on Wednesday that a question that will ask voters to decide on whether to allow casino gambling in the state of Nebraska will not make it on the November ballot.

A petition has been filed by tribes in Nebraska that would allow the building of an off-reservation casino. A petition that would allow video keno has also been filed and that question would be able to make it on the Nov. ballot.

Attorney general Jon Bruning has been a strict opponent of the casino question making it to the Nov. ballot, citing that putting the question in would be unconstitutional. A similar proposal has been introduced in 2004, and under state laws, a petition of the same issue cannot be made more than once in three years.

Secretary of State John Gale had the final say on the matter, and Gale's opinion coincided with Bruning's.

The Nebraskans have already voted down two casino plans in November 2004. One was touted by Las Vegas casino interests and the other by the Legislature. Even though some of the details in the new proposal differ from the last two, it is some's opinion that the two proposals are basically the same.