An initiative petition seeking to place on the November ballot a gambling amendment that would permit slot machines on riverboat casinos is now under way in the 8th Congressional District.

"We have until July 8 to collect about 18,000 to 20,000 signatures of registered voters in the district," said Evelyn Boardman, a representative of Boyd Gaming in Cape Girardeau. "But we would like to turn in as many as 30,000."

Boardman was notified late Monday that the 8th District had been added to the list of six other districts where petitions are already being sought. Initially it was announced that signatures were being collected in six of the state's nine congressional districts.

A national company hired by public and riverboat gambling interests to complete a petition to put the amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot has not been looking for registered voters in Cape Girardeau or Southeast Missouri. The company has been concentrating its efforts in Congressional Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9.

Dan Davis, a consultant for The Boyd Group, urged this week that the 8th District be added. Two riverboat gambling casino operations are planned in the district -- Boyd Gaming at Cape Girardeau and Aztar in Caruthersville.

"We feel we have the manpower to collect the signatures needed in the 8th District," said Davis. Boardman and Beth Scherer will coordinate the campaign in the 8th District.

Statewide, more than 235,000, or 8 percent of the population that voted in the last general election, are required for the issue to be placed on the ballot.

If the petition drive is successful, the issue will be placed on the ballot for a statewide vote. A similar measure put forth by the state legislature failed at the polls in the April 5 election by a margin of about 1,200 votes.