AUGUSTA — A superior court judge has upheld Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s decision to reject a citizen petition to create a casino in southern Maine.

In March, Dunlap deemed more than half the signatures on the casino petition were invalid. Horseracing Jobs Fairness, which led the casino petition drive and spent $156,000 on it, appealed the decision immediately.

The decision in the case was released Thursday.

“The court concludes that the procedure followed by the Secretary of State does not require the reversal or invalidation of the entire determination,” Judge Michaela Murphy of the Justice, Business and Consumer Court wrote in the decision.

“We are satisfied with the ruling,” Dunlap said. “We realize that those citizens who signed this petition in good faith may be disappointed, but our job is to ensure that the Constitutional requirements are met, and to that end we are gratified by the ruling.”

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