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Gov. John Baldacci and representatives from the Casinos No! campaign say the citizens’ votes on this Tuesday’s ballot proves that Maine is not the place for a casino.
Question 3, a proposal for a $650 million resort casino in southern Maine, was defeated with 67 percent of voters opposed. The referendum question asked Maine voters if they wanted a casino, run by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, to be built in York County if part of the revenue would be used for state education and municipal revenue sharing.
Question 3′s defeat was a sigh of relief for those who ran its opposition campaign. It was the most expensive referendum campaign in Maine history, with the Think About It campaign outspending the Casinos No! campaign three to one, according to WLBZ TV.
“I never thought we’d win by the margin that we did,” said Dennis Bailey, chief strategist for Casinos No!, yesterday. “At the end of October, we were neck and neck with [Think About It campaigners] and suddenly we found some daylight in a short period of time and we went up like a rocket.”
There were 311,595 voters in opposition to the casino. Approximately 155,000 people voted in favor of the casino.
“There’s no other way to read this,” Bailey said. “This is the route, this is the clear indication from all Maine people that they don’t want a casino in Maine.”
Bailey said people on the Think About It campaign should remember Tuesday’s vote if they decide to push for a casino again.
“I think they should take that as a lesson and take casinos off the table and work together on anything else, but we can’t include a casino,” Bailey said.
The casino issue seemed to spur voters to the polls Tuesday, including University of Maine students.
Second-year biochemistry student Chris Sweeney said he went to the polls after a friend encouraged him that his vote would matter this year. He said he has seen casinos and does not want to see one in Maine.
“I think it would take from local businesses, and I don’t want more people in the state than we already have in southern Maine,” Sweeney said at the polls.
While a casino won’t be built in southern Maine in the near future, a racino at Scarborough Downs and Bangor’s horse racetrack does have support. Question 2 passed with 53 percent of voters in support. The question asked if Mainers wanted to allow slot machines at commercial horse racing tracks if part of the proceeds went to lower prescription drug costs for the elderly and disabled, and for scholarships to state universities and technical colleges.
“This is something that is certainly going to preserve many jobs and certainly create new ones,” said Fred Nichols, CEO of Bangor Raceway. “This is just adding another type of wagering facility to a facility that has been wagering since 1935.”
Of Question 1′s three parts, none received the 50 percent of votes needed in order to be passed. Question 1A will be voted on again as an individual referendum question this spring or summer, as it had the most votes of the three with about 38 percent, or 168,000 votes. Question 1B came close to that percentage, with 35 percent of the votes.
Question 1A, crafted by the Maine Municipal Association, was a citizen initiative that would have required the state to pay 55 percent of the cost of public education up front, including special education costs, for the purpose of shifting costs from property taxpayers to state resources. Question 1B, offered by the governor and state Legislature, was a competing measure giving the state five years to meet the 55 percent requirement. Those who voted for Question 1C were opposed to both 1A and 1B.
All three bond issues on Tuesday’s ballot passed, totaling about $89 million to be spent on environmental, transportation and college and library initiatives.
Question 4 passed for $6.95 million to be spent on constructing and upgrading water pollution control facilities, providing grants to construct more control facilities, cleaning hazardous substance sites, eliminating licensed overboard discharges to shellfish areas, and constructing environmentally sound water sources that help prevent drought damage to crops. This bond issue passed with 60 percent of voters in support.
Question 5 was a college-library bond issue that will allocate $19 million for repairs and upgrades to colleges and universities for better access for students with disabilities and to upgrade classroom equipment at various campuses within the University of Maine System, Maine Maritime Academy and the Maine Community College System (formerly Maine’s technical colleges). It will also provide grants to construct and renovate public libraries. This bond issue passed by about 54 percent of voters in support.
Question 6 was financially the largest bond issue on the ballot this year and was passed to favor spending about $63 million for “improvements to highways, bridges, airports, ferry and port facilities, port and harbor structures; development of rail corridors and improvements to railroad structures; investment in the statewide public transportation fleet; statewide trail and pedestrian improvements; and construction of hospital helipads, building additional refueling facilities and upgrading navigational systems and acquiring training equipment to improve access to health care that makes the state eligible for matching federal funds totaling $217 million.” This bond issue passed with 65.5 percent of the vote.
With several high-profile referendums and bond issues on the ballot, Election Day was slightly busier than in years past at UMaine’s Doris Twitchell Allen Village Community Center.
There were 427 ballots cast at DTAV, including one absentee ballot and about 200 new registration votes. Sue Hart, Orono’s registrar of voters and deputy clerk, said the turnout at 24 percent for registered voters on campus was higher than past referendum elections.
The town of Orono had a total voter turnout of 50 percent, which Hart said was an increase from past referendums.
Fourth-year environmental science student at UMaine, Gail Aloisio said she was unsure whether to vote, but a family member encouraged her to go anyway.
“I realized that it’s important to vote, and even to just show up because that’s better than nothing,” Aloisio said. “At least then the politicians will listen to our age group more because we don’t represent ourselves enough.”
Bangor Daily News