SACRAMENTO : Gaming Initiative Fails to Make Ballot

A proposed voter initiative that sought to open up slot machine gambling in Palm Springs and simultaneously legalize the devices at Indian casinos statewide has failed to qualify for the November ballot, state official said Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the secretary of state said the count of valid signatures needed to qualify the measure by today’s deadline was falling far below the required 762,000. Campaign manager Chuck Cavalier conceded that the effort had failed, but said supporters were prepared to try again for the next statewide election, in June 1998. Initiative backers sought a constitutional amendment that would have allowed slot machine gambling at three locations in the desert community.