Efforts to see a casino added in the southern portion of Maine failed earlier this year but that has not stopped proponents of the idea from working towards their goal. Reportedly, this past week, Matthew Dunlap, the Secretary of State for Maine, announced that petition signatures have been submitted in efforts to once again see residents of the state voting for a casino or slot machines in York County.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Dunlap announced yesterday that signatures were submitted for ‘An Act to Allow Slot Machines or a Casino in York County’. The signatures must be reviewed but enough were gathered and are verified as completed by registered voters of Maine, then a vote could take place on the issue with a statewide referendum next year.

Earlier this year a similar effort was tried but Dunlap found that over half of the 91,000 signatures that had been submitted were not valid. Proponents of the gaming expansion challenged the decision by Dunlap, heading to court back in April but the appeal was rejected by Superior Court Judge Michaela Murphy.

With the latest bid for the ballot measure, the office of the Secretary of State will have a 30 day time frame in which to review the signatures and decide if they are valid or invalid. If the signatures gathered are deemed valid, then the referendums could be voted upon in 2017.