Pro-casino groups drop request for speedy relief in petition-gathering lawsuit

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Groups backing a national inaugural aimed astatine expanding casino gaming successful Florida are nary longer seeking contiguous alleviation successful a suit that alleges vendors with ties to the Seminole Tribe are utilizing amerciable means to artifact the measurement from making the ballot.

The backers of the inaugural to grow casino gaming successful Florida allege vendors hired by groups funded by the Seminole Tribe person been paying disconnected petition gatherers to halt collecting signatures.

“Not to really bash immoderate enactment for the defendants, but simply to hold to halt moving for us,” said James McKee, an lawyer representing the groups that filed suit.

They adjacent assertion immoderate petition gatherers person been intimidated.

“Ripping clipboards retired of their hands, grabbing stacks of petitions and moving distant with them, screaming astatine voters to support them distant from petition circulators,” said McKee.

The vendors reason they’ve done thing incorrect due to the fact that successful a close to enactment state, petition gatherers person the close to take their employer.

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“My lawsuit has the close to prosecute radical to amplify its dependable and acquisition successful the assemblage wherever they deliberation that voters are being misled,” said lawyer William Shepherd, who is representing the vendors named successful the suit.

A proceeding was scheduled for Tuesday, but the groups suing unexpectedly dropped their petition for a impermanent restraining order, conscionable 1 time aft a justice ruled the suit could spell forward.

A connection enactment retired by Cornerstone Solutions, 1 of the groups that has been sued, called the determination to nary longer question a restraining bid “no surprise.”

“We proceed to bash the close happening by Floridians portion out-of-state companies are wasting Florida’s clip and taxation dollars with frivolous emergencies of their ain making,” said Cornerstone Solutions President Rick Asnani.

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We’re told the determination came down to clip and manpower.

The groups suing said they couldn’t spend to propulsion unit retired of the tract for lengthy depositions.

“The justice asked for america to bring our squad retired of the tract for aggregate days of depositions — which is counterproductive to our signature-gathering efforts,” said Florida Voters successful Charge spokesperson Sarah Bascom.

And the groups pushing the inaugural said they mean to proceed the ineligible conflict to propulsion backmost against the blocking efforts.

“We volition proceed to prosecute our ineligible options to exposure and question damages from those that person intentionally and aggressively attempted to thwart the law signature-gathering process,” said Bascom.

They besides assertion to beryllium connected way to marque the 2022 ballot, contempt lone having validated astir 255,000 of the astir 900,000 required signatures arsenic of mid-afternoon Monday.

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