BATON ROUGE (AP) — Officials with Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. say they hope to have the capital’s third riverboat casino operating within three years, following voter approval of the idea.

According to complete returns, 56 percent, or 57,672, of East Baton Rouge Parish voters, authorized Pinnacle to build its $250 million gambling project, compared with 45,077, or 44 percent, who wanted to veto the idea.

Any expansion of gambling must be approved by parish voters before it can operate.

Pinnacle’s bid to build a new casino with a 100-room hotel in South Baton Rouge had drawn strong opposition from the two existing boats that have operated for years in downtown Baton Rouge.