PETITIONERS SUBMIT NEARLY 24,000 SIGNATURES AT THE HALFWAY POINT TO PLACE SLOTS AT ARUNDEL MILLS ZONING ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT

Opposition To Slots At The Mall “overwhelming”

ANNAPOLIS, MD. (February 4, 2010) – A coalition of petitioners submitted 23,702 signatures to the Anne Arundel Board of Elections this afternoon in support of a referendum to allow county citizens to vote on whether to permit the state’s largest slots casino at the Arundel Mills Mall. The signatures submitted today far exceed the interim requirement of 9,395 signatures needed by Feb. 5 and surpass the 18,790 signatures ultimately required to place the zoning ordinance on the ballot in November.  

“Without question, there is overwhelming opposition by Anne Arundel County citizens to placing a casino at Arundel Mills Mall,” said Rob Annicelli, President of the citizens group Stop Slots at Arundel Mills. “The mall is not the right location for a slots casino and is not in the best interests of the citizens of Anne Arundel County. I would like to thank the volunteers and ask them to continue to collect signatures until the Board of Elections certifies the petition question.”

“People are voting with their signatures. They want the zoning ordinance on the ballot,” said Heather Ford, Coalition Coordinator for Citizens Against Slots at the Mall. “Despite bad weather and attempts to block our efforts, we know we will have more than enough validated petition signatures by the time we are done to place the zoning question on the November ballot.”

According to Tom Chuckas, President of the Maryland Jockey Club, “We are confident, that if given the choice, the people of Anne Arundel County will choose a more appropriate location for 4,750 slot machines that will benefit our county, our state, education funding and the thousands of jobs in the horse racing industry.”

A true copy of the petition filing, including all pages and signatures, was also filed with Brault Graham, LLC, a well-respected Rockville law firm, which is serving as the escrow agent to securely hold and maintain the copy of the petition filing. A representative of Brault Graham also accompanied the petitioners and observed the timely delivery of the petitioners’ interim filing, including all pages and signatures, and verified with the Anne Arundel Board of Elections the submission this afternoon.