Gambling foes admit defeat
Tuesday, June 27, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HELENA, Mont. -- An attempt to put an antigambling initiative on the November ballot for a statewide vote has failed, backers acknowledged.
The sponsoring group, A Better Montana Without Gambling, needed 39,724 signatures of registered voters by Friday's deadline to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Constitutional Initiative 81 would have banned all types of gambling, including bingo, video poker and keno, sports pools and the Montana Lottery.
The sponsors acknowledged defeat in a faxed news release that said they had gathered 19,253 signatures.
"However, the effort has just begun," the statement said. "The 661 grassroots volunteers are now capable of making the ballot in 2002 and winning a general election."
archive