Counting of voucher petitions begins
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Boxes of petitions supporting a vote on Utah's school voucher law flooded into the Lieutenant Governor's Office on Tuesday. Staffers there will work through the week to count the signatures to determine whether there are enough to put the issue on a ballot.

Utahns for Public Schools - a group composed largely of parents, teachers and school administrators - collected signatures in an effort to get a controversial new voucher law overturned by voters. The law provides public money for private school tuition assistance to any Utahn who does not currently have a child enrolled in private school.

Opponents spent weeks collecting signatures. The group said it submitted more than 131,000 signatures to county clerks earlier this month. Clerks spent the past two weeks certifying the petitions to weed out repeat signatures or those from people who aren't registered to vote.

Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's office received petitions from all Utah counties Tuesday, according to a news release, and will determine whether there are enough valid signatures to force a vote. The law requires signatures representing 10 percent of voters in the last gubernatorial election - 91,996 - and 10 percent of voters in at least 15 of Utah's 29 counties.

The office on Monday will declare the petition drive "sufficient" or "insufficient," according to the release.

If the petition is sufficient, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. may then set an election date at his leisure.

If he does nothing, the issue automatically goes on the November 2008 ballot.

If Lt. Gov. Herbert gives the OK to signatures, the measure will get a vote
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