As a special session of the Kentucky legislature convened to consider several issues, including legalization of video lottery terminals at racetracks, the Kentucky Equine Education Project released results of a poll showing 61% of registered voters favored alternative gaming at tracks.
According to the survey conducted by Voter Consumer Research on behalf of KEEP, 35% of those polled oppose VLTs at tracks, and 4% refused to answer or did not know. The margin of error is ±4%. According to Voter Consumer Research, the poll was conducted via telephone of 600 randomly selected registered voters in the evening hours June 9-11.
In response to other questions on the survey, 73% agreed with the statement that Kentuckians spend millions of dollars at Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia casinos, and that allowing gaming at Kentucky race tracks will keep some of that money in Kentucky.
Sixty-eight percent agreed (29% disagreed) that “people who want to gamble are going to do so anyway, so we might as well keep it at the tracks where gambling already takes place and tax it for the benefit of all Kentuckians.”
Also, 63% of those polled believe that allowing “VLTs at horseracing tracks is only a minor expansion of gambling, because pari-mutuel betting already occurs there and is well regulated,” according to KEEP, while 27% disagreed.
In response to the statement “allowing expanded gaming at horse tracks would help balance the state’s budget without raising taxes,” 55% agreed and 41% disagreed.