It is not a registered nonprofit, though it bears a nonprofit's Web identity. It has no board of directors, no campaign finance filing history, and no paperwork on file with the IRS or the Federal Elections Commission.

So who is LetOhioVote.org, the mysterious group that filed a lawsuit and successfully challenged Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to expand gambling in Ohio?

Records reviewed by The Associated Press show that mostly conservative Christian groups signed on to the lawsuit over Strickland's plan to put lottery-run slots at seven Ohio horse racing tracks. Strickland wanted the revenue to plug an $850 million budget hole.

But the Ohio Supreme Court sidelined the plan when it said opponents can try to put the measure to a popular vote.

LetOhioVote.org has until Dec. 18 to collect signatures for a May referendum on the slots proposal.

On paper, just three people make up LetOhioVote.org: David Hansen, former president of The Buckeye Institute, a conservative public policy thinktank; Tom Brinkman, a former Republican state lawmaker from Cincinnati; and Gene Pierce, a communications consultant.

Pierce, the group's treasurer, worked for Ken Blackwell, a Republican and former secretary of state who faced Strickland in the 2006 gubernatorial race.

There are other hints of Blackwell around the group.

Carlo LoParo, formerly Blackwell's trusted spokesman, is doing public relations for LetOhioVote.org, and Norman Cummings, a longtime Blackwell political adviser, registered the group's Web site, according to registration records.

Blackwell also has a long association with the Buckeye Institute, where Hansen formerly worked.

David Langdon, LetOhioVote.org's first lawyer, has provided regular legal counsel to Blackwell on such issues as his effort to cap state spending in 2006.

Both LoParo and Pierce insisted that Blackwell has no role in the group.

But Blackwell and many of the conservative political organizations fighting the slots proposal share a political philosophy and swing in the same circles.

Few are specifically anti-gambling. Their causes, records show, include promoting abstinence-only education, fighting abortion and pornography, and spreading Christian values.

Among other conservative groups that signed onto LetOhioVote.org's slots lawsuit were: Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, Family First PAC, the conservative Eagle Forum and the Ohio arms of the National Government Prayer Alliance, the National Christian Schools Association and the Constitution Party.