VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – The casino referendum will be on the November ballot in Vigo County when city elections take place.
The Vigo County Election Board plans to add four more early vote centers to accommodate county residents.
“I think that this affects the casino bill in the fact that it just makes it easier for the county residents to vote throughout Vigo County,” said Vigo County Clerk Brad Newman.
Those additional early vote centers will be located at the Operating Engineers Hall, the Solid Waste Management Building, Seelyville Town Hall and the Sugar Creek Fire Department.
During the election, residents have the power to vote yes or no on bringing a casino to Terre Haute.
State legislators approved allowing a casino in Vigo County this past session, with the condition that the voters of the county get a say.
“Sometimes people don’t do things because it’s not available,” said Indiana State University student Cameron Garrett. “If you put something in someone’s face it makes it a little easier for you to want to step out and actually go ahead and vote.”
With this decision at the mercy of voters, the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce is focusing on getting voters educated and to the polls.
“We’ll also really be giving employers some of those tips and tricks. You know things they can do to help incentivize our employees to get out and vote,” said Chamber of Commerce President Kristin Craig. “So you know maybe everybody who comes back with an “I voted” sticker gets entered in a drawing for the day. You know those kinds of fun things that really are going to go a long way in helping make sure that we have people out at the polls.”
As of right now the casino referendum is the only referendum on November’s ballot.
The Vigo County School Corporation has until August 1 to let the county clerk know if their tax referendum will be added to the ballot.
If the casino passes the referendum, a request would be sent to casino operators to determine which operators are interested and what their plans would be for the project.
The Indiana Gaming Commission would then select an operator based on those proposals.
