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Maine Slots Foes Trying for 2007 Vote

BANGOR. Maine -- As reported by the Bangor Daily News: "A group seeking to outlaw slot machines in the state - including those at Bangor's Hollywood Slots - is pushing ahead with its effort to gather enough signatures to put the question before voters in 2007.

"'The problems that prompted us to try this in the first place are still there,' said Doug Muir, spokesman for No Slots for ME, a Westbrook-based group that tried unsuccessfully to place the matter on the 2006 ballot.

"…To qualify for the November 2007 ballot, as the group intends, it must submit its signatures by Jan. 25, according to the Maine Secretary of State's Office. The group must gather a number of signatures equal to or exceeding 10 percent of the votes cast in the 2006 gubernatorial election. Based on past elections, that translates into about 50,000 signatures.

"If the group is successful in gathering those signatures, voters next year will consider the question, 'Do you want to ban all public use of slot machines in Maine?' The wording of the question was approved by state elections officials in March.

"Officials at Penn National Gaming, the company that operates the Bangor slots facility, were not surprised by the renewed effort - only disappointed…"

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