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Citizens fight to add casino proposal to ballot, sue Ark. Attorney General

The group has worked to add casino proposals to the ballot. Rutledge has rejected each one.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - After multiple attempts to get a casino proposal on the November ballot, a citizens group is suing attorney general Leslie Rutledge.

She was set to appear in Judge Wendell Griffen's courtroom on the morning of May 18th where she was set to testify. About an hour before her scheduled appearance, she had the cased removed and placed instead in federal court.

"To say it’s done in good faith is probably an inaccurate statement," said Alex Gray, attorney with Driving Arkansas Forward.

The group has worked to add casino proposals to the ballot. Rutledge has rejected each one.

"She’s rejecting, unconstitutionally rejecting every proposal that comes before her," said Gray.

"She has an important role to play in this process. It is the job of the attorney general to make sure the proposed amendments have clear language that voters will understand," said Joshua Silverstein, Professor of Law at U.A. Little Rock School of Law.

Silverstein explained the attorney general has the right to reject ballot measures if they aren't easily understandable.

"What the lawsuit alleges is she’s doing more than that," said Silverstein.

Gray plans to now fight it out before the federal judge.

"I anticipate we'll be back in state court very soon," said Gray.

The clock is ticking. They hope to get the issue resolved in time to gather signatures this June.

"We don’t have a whole lot of time left, this is just another attempt by the attorney general to run out the clock," said Gray.

The attorney general’s office released this statement:

“Today, the Attorney General removed this case to federal court because the plaintiffs asserted claims under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, the federal court is the proper forum to hear the case. ”

Rutledge is also calling on the general assembly to fix the whole process that lets citizens file a proposal.

"The court has set some pretty rigid standards," said Silverstein.

She's asking legislators to create a system during the 2019 legislative session with clear standards and deadlines.

Now the state case is on hold while lawyers move across the street to the Federal Court House and we all wait to hear what judges there want to do with the case.

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