Lawsuit Against Missouri Sports Betting Initiative Filed Too Late

The Winning for Missouri Education coalition led a signature campaign for the Missouri sports betting initiative. They believe the lawsuit against the initiative should be thrown out because it was filed too late.

Campaign lawyers argue that the doctrine of laches—a legal defense prohibiting plaintiffs from intentionally submitting lawsuits late to the defendant’s disadvantage—should exclude three counts in the case.

In their revised claim, the plaintiffs argue that they waited an unreasonable time to voice their concerns, even though the Missouri Secretary of Arguments Office released the initiative signature requirements for the 2024 general election over a year ago.

Lawsuit Against Missouri Sports Betting Initiative

Plaintiffs Blake Lawrence and Jacqueline Wood, owners of two consulting firms in the state, launched their lawsuit on August 21, a mere eight days after Secretary of State John “Jay” Ashcroft’s announcement that the initiative petition had garnered enough valid signatures to be included on the general election ballot in November 2024.

According to a political news forum, the complaint asserts that Ashcroft’s judgment of sufficiency was wrong and that the Winning for Missouri Education campaign failed to collect enough valid signatures in Missouri’s First and Fifth Congressional Districts. Legalizing sports betting in the state is an issue that the plaintiffs claim should not be on the ballot. Thursday, September 5th, is the day set for the initial court hearing in the matter.

Winning for Missouri Education’s legal team filed an updated response to the complaint, requesting that counts one, two, and four be struck from the case on the grounds of laches. Legal representation pointed out that the campaign sent in their signature package after Ashcroft certified the initiative for the November 5 ballot. It had been over a year after the Secretary of State’s Office publicized the signature threshold. Only then was the lawsuit initiated. If a court determines that a lawful lawsuit was brought too late, causing the other party harm, the claim might be denied under the theory of laches.

The plaintiffs were aware of the signature thresholds, and the defendants pointed out that the plaintiffs had delayed filing the complaint for too long.

Time Running Out for the Lawsuit

As the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, approaches, the clock is ticking on the case, the first hearing of which is scheduled for next week. The director of communications for the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office, JoDonn Chaney, has stated that voters would be presented with the sports betting initiative issue on the official ballot for the November 5th election regardless of the outcome of the case, provided that a ruling is not obtained by September 10th. Missouri law states the ballot must be “set in stone” on or before September 10th.

Whatever the initiative’s outcome may have been, if the presiding judge finds in favor of the plaintiffs following the November 5th election, the results will be null and void. Problematically, the issue will remain on the ballot even if the results will not be counted if the judge finds in favor of the plaintiffs between September 10 and the general election.

While waiting for the result of the ballots, you can start learning how to open a sportsbook in the state. We recommend looking at pay per head solutions to be a bookie. If you already have a betting site, upgrade your sportsbook for football. Then, you can earn more during the NFL season.