FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2008
Contact: Don Cookson, 626-8404

Signatures Submitted in Support of An Act to Allow a Casino in Oxford County

Augusta- Proponents of a gambling facility to be located in Oxford County delivered several boxes of signatures to the Secretary of State prior to the deadline yesterday for the citizen initiative listed below. Supporters of the Oxford County casino plan claim they have submitted in excess of 76,000 signatures. A total of 55,087 valid signatures are required in order to place a question about an Oxford County gaming facility on the statewide ballot in November, 2008.

Petition circulators had 18 months to collect the signatures required. The Oxford County Casino petitions were issued on July 12, 2006. The deadline for submission was January 12, 2008. Because January 12 fell upon a weekend, the petition filing date was adjusted to January 14, 2008. The Secretary of State has until February 27, 2008 to certify the submitted signatures

The question as it appeared on petitions read as follows:

“Do you want to allow a certain Maine company to have the only casino in Maine, to be located in Oxford County, if part of the revenue is used to fund specific state programs?”

The Legislation crafted for this initiative can be viewed at the Secretary of State’s website here: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/pets02/leg-oxf.htm