The vote was a victory for the opposition group No Eastie Casino, which ran a shoestring campaign and was vastly outspent by proponents. Many small-business owners in East Boston believed the casino would siphon off whatever discretionary money people had, and No Eastie Casino asserted that gambling would snarl traffic and increase drug use and crime.
Supporters of the casino, including Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, who sent his troops into the area on Election Day to pull out “yes” votes, said that it would bring the communities 4,000 jobs and an infusion of money for things like new roads.
Even before Tuesday, the fate of the Massachusetts measure had been thrown into doubt when the state gambling commission raised questions last month about the suitability of Suffolk Downs’s partner at the time, Caesars Entertainment, to operate the casino. Suffolk asked Caesars to withdraw from the bid, which it did.
Chip Tuttle, the chief operating officer of Suffolk Downs, told reporters that he was not certain how the track would proceed, but the apparently lopsided vote against the casino could well have doomed the effort."
Colorado Rejects Move for Schools as Casino Fails in Massachusetts
Matthew Staver for The New York Times
Madeline Doak, 18, a student election judge, collected ballots in Denver. Taxes and marijuana were up for statewide votes.
By JACK HEALY
Published: November 5, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/us/politics/key-ballot-measures.html?_r=1&
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