On 5 November and the days since, it appeared that Missouri voters had approved Amendment 2, which allows for statewide retail and digital sports betting. But with vote tallies still trickling in, it’s possible that the measure didn’t pass, or at least that a recount could be demanded.
Multiple media outlets and the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) touted Amendment 2’s passage the week of the presidential election. But according to the Missouri Independent, the results from one county could reverse that.
And even if the amendment is deemed a winner, the vote differential is so slim, a recount could be requested.
Christian County is located in southwest Missouri and considered a suburb of Springfield. And according to a certified vote tally dated 12 November, 30,320 ballots were “no” on Amendment 2 and 19,955 were “yes.” That’s a difference of 10,365 votes on a constitutional amendment that was said to have won by the slimmest of margins. That official vote tally is the most current. All counties were required to certify their results by Tuesday (19 November).
Per a 19 November tally by the Missouri secretary of state, the count was 1,468,306 for vs. 1,463,940 against. That’s a difference of 4,366 votes.
Results appear to be within range for a recount
In Christian County, 10,000 votes were added in a “late report.” That could potentially cut the margin of victory into the hundreds of votes. Per Missouri law, any candidate or ballot measure defeated by one-half of 1% of total voters can request a recount. In any of those scenarios, Amendment 2 would win by less than one-half of 1% of the vote, and the opposition could request a recount.
It seems unlikely that that will happen, however. The opposition in this case is Caesars Entertainment, owner of three Missouri casinos. The company mounted a short-lived opposition campaign, but stood down in mid-October.
To recap: Amendment 2 came about because Missouri’s professional sports teams, led by St. Louis Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt II, were tired of waiting for the legislature to legalise. It failed in more than five tries. After the sports teams got the initiative onto the ballot, digital operators DraftKings and FanDuel poured more than $40 million (£31.5 million/€39.9 million) into the proponents’ campaign.
Caesars ran an opposition campaign, in part because the initiative appears to allow for one digital skin per casino company vs. one per location. Caesars and Penn Entertainment each operate three casinos in Missouri. In late October, iGB reported that the Missouri Gaming Commission interprets the initiative to grant one licence per location. Caesars backed off its opposition campaign less than two weeks prior.
When all the votes are tallied, the differential will almost certainly be less than one-half of 1%. But it does not appear that there is a “defeated” party to contest the count.
iGB reached out to Caesars, and the company had no comment.