MONTGOMERY, Ala. – More than 1,500 people marched to the Alabama Statehouse on Saturday to protest the loss of jobs when the state shut down electronic bingo operations in Greene and Macon County.
The casinos were closed down by Gov. Bob Riley’s anti-gambling task force after several court orders.
Riley, a Republican, contends that the electronic bingo games are illegal slot machines.
Leading the march, Democratic state Rep. John Rogers of Birmingham chanted “jobs, jobs, jobs” and “vote, vote, vote.”
Rogers told the crowd that the closing of the casinos, which left more than 1,000 workers out of their jobs, would be an issue in this fall’s state elections.