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Judges Order Word Change in Slots Measure
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In Prince George's, meanwhile, a deeply divided County Democratic Central Committee voted Tuesday night to offer county party members no guidance about how to vote on the slots question.
Opposition to the measure runs deep in the county, where many influential church leaders are against the proposal. Some opponents also argue that gambling harms residents of low-income neighborhoods, such as some Prince George's communities inside the Capital Beltway.
But urging residents to vote "no" would have represented a repudiation by the local party of O'Malley and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert). Both support slots as a way to raise revenue, and Miller's district includes part of Prince George's.
A proposal to tell voters to oppose slots died in an 11 to 12 vote. No committee members spoke in support of the measure.
Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), a prominent opponent of slots, urged the committee to publicly state its opposition to the ballot question.
"We need you, because all the powers that be say you gotta have this," he told committee members. "Mike Miller says, you gotta have this. He's said it for years. He's wrong."
Del. Gerron S. Levi (D-Prince George's) also addressed the committee, urging it to oppose slots.
The local party's recommendations are included on sample ballots handed out at the polls on Election Day, considered an important way to sway voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic county.
