Voters in Allen, DeKalb and Steuben counties each rejected inland casino gambling by double digits on November 3. The single new license in House Enrolled Act 1038, tied to a project of at least $500 million, now has no county that can host it.
With the measure defeated, the license created by House Enrolled Act 1038 cannot be granted by the Indiana Gaming Commission. A repeat ballot is also off the table. State law bars a second public question in any county that voted the measure down.
Allen County, where developers were seeking to build, carried the most weight. The county’s election-night summary counted 102,935 votes on the question, with 40.44% in favor. In DeKalb County, 7,374 voters said no. Steuben County recorded 6,234 no votes.
The stakes were substantial. That minimum investment had to cover both the casino and its non-gambling amenities. At least 60% of that had to be spent within two years of the award. The license also carried a fee to the state, plus $50 million for former host communities hurt by casino closures.
The projected public return was large as well. A study done for the Indiana Gaming Commission estimated that an Allen County casino could generate $204 million in revenue alongside its annual state tax payments. Under the act, 10% of the casino’s tax payments would have gone to the northeast Indiana regional development authority.
The process hinged on the vote from the start. The commission’s July guidance said it would take applications only for a county or counties where voters approved inland casino gambling. None did.
Gaming Commission officials said that with no county passing the referendum, nothing happens, and that any next steps are up to the legislature. That puts operators back in front of lawmakers.
Lawmakers have already redrawn this map once. Instead of creating a new license, a January 22, 2026 committee version of House Bill 1038 would have relocated the Ohio County riverboat license. That inland casino could have gone to Allen, DeKalb, Steuben or Wayne County. The enacted version instead created one new license and eliminated one unused racino license. Indianapolis was kept off the list because a casino there would pull business from the existing casinos in Shelbyville and Anderson.
The vote also lands in a state that is narrowing gambling elsewhere. House Bill 1052 lets the commission fine any operator or individual $100,000 for knowingly running an internet sweepstakes game in Indiana, starting July 1, 2026. Peer-to-peer skill-based poker is exempt. Indiana still has no legal online casinos.
Indiana was not alone on Election Day, as Nebraska voters also turned down a gambling expansion. In northeast Indiana, the act’s December 1, 2026 deadline for inland casino license applications now arrives with the commission taking no applications.
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