Voucher Opponents Confident in Referendum Efforts

None by KCPW

131,000 Signatures Only First Hurdle

(KCPW News) An army of teachers, parents and public school supporters collected what they believe is plenty of signatures to get Utah's voucher system on the ballot.

"Today we are delivering petition packets containing over 131,000 signatures to county clerks in every single county," announced Rusk at a press conference.

Pat Rusk is a fourth-grade teacher and spokesperson for Utahns for Public Schools. The group needed 92-thousand signatures from 15 counties by 5 p.m. today. County clerks now have until April 24th to certify that each signature belongs to a registered voter in that county. As KCPW reported last week, there is evidence to suggest some signatures were collected using school resources, in violation of state law. But Utah law does not allow groups to challenge referendum signatures based on how they were collected. Rather, Nancy Pomeroy says the pro-voucher group Parents for Choice in Education will now focus on making sure voters do not support the referendum:

"We believe we'll win the election on the merits of the issue," says Pomeroy. "Because we've seen it with this petition effort - people will go up to sign and once they talk to one of our people they'll say 'I had no idea that was the other side of the argument.' And they walk away."

Governor Huntsman has suggested he will call a special election as early as June to hold the voucher referendum. But even if voters overturn vouchers, the Attorney General says the system will stay on the books thanks to a secondary bill passed by the Utah Legislature. Both sides of the issue now appear headed for a costly referendum campaign, followed by an even costlier court battle.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Legislative Coverage, and 2007 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2008 KCPW