SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Supporters of what could be the first nontribal casino in Oregon will let voters decide whether to build it near Portland after dropping a lawsuit over a ballot measure.
Statewide approval of Measure 75 would authorize a casino on the site of the former Multnomah Greyhound Park east of Portland.
Supporters had filed a lawsuit aimed at forcing state elections officials to qualify a companion measure allowing an exception to the 1984 state constitutional ban against casinos — except for Indian tribes.
But the Statesman Journal reports the committee backing the proposed Portland-area casino dropped the suit after it was advised the ban applies only to the Legislature, not to voters — so voters are free to approve it, unlike lawmakers.
