MIAMI -- With the hours ticking down before residents of Miami-Dade and Broward counties decide if they want Las Vegas-style slot machines in the region, leaders on both sides of the issue made their last push Monday to sway voters.

Proponents have spent millions to get their message out, and some supporters held a final news conference at an early voting location in Hallandale Beach, almost in the shadows of Gulfstream Park -- one of the seven pari-mutuel facilities hoping to install slots.

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Survey: Should Slots Be Allowed?
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The anti-slots side prepped for their last low-budget rebuttal, distributing signs and fliers to volunteers who'll man polling locations on Tuesday -- when the issue finally gets decided by voters.

"There is no defeat in this thing," Robin Rorapaugh, a spokeswoman for the anti-slots group Remember the Lottery, said Monday. "I think it's going to be interesting because it's a classic big-money vs. grass-roots battle. I would not be surprised to see slots go down in Miami-Dade, and it's going to be close in Broward."

Voters in each county will decide on a separate slots referendum; passage in one county has no bearing on whether slot machines will be installed in the other. Should either county approve the issue, state lawmakers would decide what type of slots are coming, plus how they'll be taxed and how they'll be managed by the horse and dog tracks and jai-alai frontons.

The notion of putting the slots measure on the ballot passed narrowly statewide in November -- but overwhelmingly in South Florida.

Gov. Jeb Bush, a staunch opponent of gambling, campaigned against the slots plan in South Florida last week. Other opponents include the Christian Coalition of South Florida and several animal-rights groups that are opposed to helping horse and especially dog tracks.

Supporters of the measure include former state education commissioner Jim Horne -- who was a Bush appointee -- plus the pari-mutuel facilities, some of which suggest they cannot survive without slot machines.

Horne said Monday that informal polling "has been fantastic."

"You always feel confident, but there's always an air of skepticism, a healthy dose of professional skepticism," Horne said. "Data from the last time we polled was very strong. Of course, we don't know what ramifications or consequences the governor's direct involvement will have."

Proponents often speak of how money being spent at existing gaming facilities operated by the Seminole and Miccosukee Indian tribes is unregulated and untaxed, and that slot machines will provide opportunity for schools, create thousands of jobs and allow the slumping pari-mutuel industry to reap some benefits.

The facilities hoping for slots include Gulfstream, Hollywood Greyhound Track, Dania Jai-Alai and Pompano Park in Broward County, and Flagler Dog Track, Miami Jai-Alai and Calder Race Course in Miami-Dade.

"The money is there, folks," Hollywood track general manager Dan Adkins said. "Let's tap it. Let's put it to good use."

Opponents, however, insist that adding slot machines will merely be a prelude to the opening of full-scale casinos in the region. Plus, they say the potential for social ills -- including higher crime and damage to Florida's family friendly tourism reputation -- isn't worth the gamble.

"There is no way they can make good on their promises," Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said last week. "A successful future for our children will not be secured by slot machines."

And there's already concern over how the tax revenues from slot usage will be divided statewide.

Sen. Steven Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, has proposed a bill (SB 1342) suggesting slot revenue be taxed at 30 percent, and Miami-Dade and Broward counties receive $75 per full-time student -- plus its cut of money divided through the Florida Education Finance Program, the formula for splitting dollars among public schools.

Some say the pro-slots pitch of education riches, however, is an empty one.

"It's just a lousy deal for the (Broward and Miami-Dade) schools," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle said. "It's a good deal for St. Petersburg or Tampa or Orlando or Tallahassee, but not so good for Dade and Broward counties."