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Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development corporation for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, was the main backer of the referendum to change the state's constitution that bans casino gambling.

Ho-Chunk is building a race course at the former Atokad Downs in South Sioux City and had planned to build a casino and large sports bar to go with it if the move to expand gambling succeeded.

Ho-Chunk was the major benefactor for the group pushing for the Nebraska gambling referendum, Keep the Money in Nebraska, donating most of the funds it has raised, according to campaign statement filings.

Lance Morgan, president and CEO of Ho-Chunk, said the group has 10 days to decide if it wants to appeal the state's decision on the signatures.

“We have ten days to decide if we want to appeal it.

"Statistically it doesn’t look that good," Morgan said. "You know, we are still going to build our track and we are not going to stop. There’s the legislature, there’s another possible ballot initiative.

"We didn’t buy the track or start this because it will be easy. We won’t give up too easy. So we will have to figure out what to do, regroup and figure our next strategy."

The Keep the Money in Nebraska campaign spent $1.35 million and worked for 10 months gathering signatures on three petitions: one to amend the state Constitution to allow games of chance at licensed racetracks and the other two to lay out where casinos can be, how they're regulated and taxed and how the tax revenue would be distributed.

Petition organizers needed 117,188 signatures for the constitutional amendment, 10 percent of registered voters.

The petition signatures were submitted on July 7 then mailed out to the counties, which had 40 days to get them verified, although they can ask for a 10-day extension. Verification of the signatures on the other two petitions has not yet be finalized.

Election officials in Nebraska's two most populous counties, Douglas and Lancaster, reported high rejection numbers for signatures.

“County election officials accepted 77,956 signatures and rejected 41,710 signatures,” Gale said in a press release. “The counties certified they received 119,666 signatures for verification.”

Gale said the most prominent reason for rejection was due to signers not being registered to vote in Nebraska or the county listed on the petition sheet.

“That accounted for more than 24,000 signature rejections. Nearly 4,600 signatures were rejected for being duplicates and more than 3,000 signatures were rejected because the signers were not currently registered and were removed from the state’s voter registration system,” he said.

Lancaster County Election Commissioner Dave Shively said his staff threw out more than 33 percent of signatures turned in there, while 38 percent of those being examined in Douglas County were rejected.

Of the 21,000 signatures for the constitutional amendment petition attributed to Lancaster County residents, 7,000 didn’t count. In Douglas County, more than 20,000 of nearly 53,000 signatures were rejected.

Pat Loontjer, who leads the anti-casino group Gambling with the Good Life, said the news came as a welcome surprise.

“We thought they were going to get their numbers. So we were praying for a miracle, and it looks like we got it,” she said Thursday.

“God has spared Nebraska the effects of organized gambling for 21 years, and he did it again. These petitions would have allowed unlimited Indian casinos, unlimited slot parlors in the state. It would have been a horrible burden on our economy on our families.”

In May, the Nebraska Racing Commission granted a state license for Ho-Chunk's proposed horse track in South Sioux City. Officials are building a temporary facility to host a single live race day on Sept. 10. After a successful referendum, organizers planned to proceed with construction of a 6,000-square-foot casino and events center featuring a large sports bar.

Ho-Chunk bought the former Atokad property after its bid in April 2013 to develop a casino on the Iowa side of the Missouri River in downtown Sioux City fell short. The Iowa license instead went to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which opened Aug. 1, 2014 in downtown Sioux City.

Morgan has said estimates show the proposed South Sioux City casino would cut into the Hard Rock's revenues.

The Journal's Alex Boisjolie and Dave Dreeszen contributed to this story.