By AUBRIE GEORGE | The Moorestown Sun
Moorestown’s nonprofit organizations will now be allowed to hold games of chance after a referendum vote during this year’s general election changes a statute that prohibits them from doing so.
According to unofficial results released by Burlington County, 5,403 registered voters made it out to the polls during this year’s general election.
On this year’s ballot, two separate referendum questions asked Moorestown voters if nonprofit organizations should be allowed to hold games of chance.
One questions asked residents if bingo should be allowed, the other asked if raffles should be permitted.
According to the unofficial results, ballot question №1 had 3,550 votes for yes compared to 1,853 votes for no.
To ballot question №2, 3,546 residents voted to allow nonprofits to hold raffles, while 1,868 voted against the raffles.
Before this year’s election, a state statute was in place that prohibits fund-raising events that involve games of chance, including bingo and raffles,
Township Clerk Patricia Hunt said the only way to change the statute was through a petition from residents or through a Council decision to place a referendum on the general election ballot.
This summer, Council passed a resolution to allow a referendum question to go on the general election ballot asking residents if qualified nonprofits should be allowed to hold games of chance.
Council decided to put two separate referendum questions on this year’s ballot in order to make it as easy as possible for residents to understand what they were voting on.
The idea to change the state statute was brought up at the Aug. 10 Council meeting by Councilman Greg Gallo who said the change should be made because the current ordinance prohibits nonprofits from conducting fund raisers at township facilities such as the Lenola Firehouse and The Community House — which has recently undergone renovations.
“I think we need to make it easier for people to get involved, volunteer and raise funds,” said Gallo at the meeting.
Council later approved an ordinance that allowed the change to go into immediate effect should voters decide games of chance should be allowed.
The change will now apply to organizations or associations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, churches or religious congregations and religious organizations, charitable, educational and fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs, senior citizen associations and clubs, officially recognized volunteer fire companies and officially recognized volunteer first aid or rescue squads, according to the ordinance.
