A challenge to racetrack slot machines was pulled from November's ballot on Monday, and Gov. Ted Strickland moved swiftly toward getting the budget-saving gambling devices up and running.
A story from the AP says, the Legislature had approved a plan from Strickland last summer to allow the lottery-run slot machines to raise as much as $933 million to balance the state's current two-year budget.
LetOhioVote argued that the issue should be subject to a referendum of voters, and the state's high court agreed. That ruling stopped the state from moving forward with the slots.
In a Monday letter to elections chief Jennifer Brunner withdrawing its petitions, LetOhioVote.org said it had achieved its goal of making sure important questions surrounding the new form of gambling were answered.
The group noted that Ohio voters authorized casinos in four big cities last fall and created a new Casino Control Commission too oversee them.
They also noted Strickland's promise to seek a declaratory judgment asking the courts to settle an outstanding legal question about the devices: Are video slots banned under anti-gambling constitutional language, or allowed as an extension of the state lottery?
Click here to read more of this story from the AP.
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