Gov. Paul LePage is right.

Hollywood Slots and Black Bear Casino had to run the campaign gauntlet of public opinion to earn approval for their respective gambling projects. So, too, should the backers of similar projects in Lewiston and Biddeford/Washington County.

If we could roll back time it would have been better if — years ago when the first casino proposal popped up — Maine’s lawmakers had the fortitude to establish statewide regulations for all casino projects, and then let developers establish their businesses in conformance with those regulations as the market would bear. But, they didn’t.

Instead, they consistently passed the buck of every proposal along to voters, and various projects have won and lost as developers gambled at the polls.

That’s the system former legislators established through their shared inaction and, as a basic matter of fairness, it should be the system maintained for future projects.

On Thursday, the Senate ignored fairness and voted to authorize the Biddeford/Washington County racino project and voted against authorization of the Lewiston casino project.

Two projects. One afternoon. Two outcomes.

Talk about a crapshoot.

The Lewiston project and the Biddeford/Washington County project should each go to the polls, and get voter approval — or not.

The Legislature is expected to finalize its non-approval and approval on these respective projects Tuesday. We encourage lawmakers to send both projects to voters.

If they don’t, and remain split on the Lewiston/Biddeford plans, we urge LePage to veto the Biddeford/Washington County authorization, unleashing a rightful and fair fight for votes.

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.