Tribal Gambling Measure Will Be On Ballot Legal Fight Could Erupt Over Whether 60 Percent Vote Or Simple Majority Needed For Passage

Voters in November will decide whether to permit Washington Indian tribes to offer unrestricted gambling on their reservations - including slot machines.

But there could be a legal fight over whether passage requires simple majority approval or a 60-percent yes vote.

Initiative 651, a gambling measure pushed by three Indian tribes, was certified for the ballot Friday after the secretary of state’s office found supporters had gathered enough signatures of registered voters.

The measure needed 181,667 valid signatures, and about 194,000 of some 267,000 submitted were found to be valid, said David Brine, a spokesman for Secretary of State Ralph Munro.

Voters in November will be asked to approve or reject a proposal that asks: “Shall the state enter into compacts with Indian tribes providing for unrestricted gambling on Indian lands within the state’s borders?”

Gambling on Indian lands is currently permitted but tightly controlled by the state.

Three tribes, the Spokanes, Puyallups and Shoalwaters, contend unrestricted gambling would give them and Washington’s other tribal governments an economic base to better the lives of their people and boost the state’s economy.

The view is not shared by several other tribes, whose leaders contend expanded gambling would bring crime and other problems to the reservations.

And a coalition of businesses, Republicans and the Christian Right have teamed up to fight the proposal as well.

“This initiative would open Washington to wide-open Las Vegas-style casino gambling,” said Stan Shore, head of The Committee Against Unrestricted Gambling, which was formed to fight the initiative. “It would take away any state authority to limit types of games, their size or location. We would have mega-casinos along the I-5 and I-90 corridors.”

The initiative would prevent the state from imposing restrictions on Indian lands regarding the sizes of wagers, sizes of facilities, hours of operation, number of games, number of facilities, or types of gaming. There also could be no restrictions on the use of mechanical gambling devices, such as slot machines.

A portion of the tribes’ gambling earnings would be returned annually to the state’s registered voters.

Munro, acting on advice from Attorney General Christine Gregoire’s office, said the measure must garner at least 60 percent of the vote to pass in November. Lawyers for sponsoring tribes contend only a simple majority of more than 50 percent of the vote is needed.

If the measure wins a simple majority in November - but not 60 percent - tribal lawyers said they would take the state to court in hopes a judge will uphold the vote.

State lawyers argue that the state constitution generally bans lotteries, and that the constitution requires a 60 percent yes vote to permit a lottery. The initiative falls within the definition of a lottery, they say.