SALT LAKE CITY -- The petitions supporting a vote against the state's school voucher law reached Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's office Tuesday, where staff members will be counting the numerous signatures throughout the week.

Herbert's office received the anti-voucher petition signatures from all of Utah's 29 counties. The staff will be working hard to determine whether or not there are enough valid petition signatures to put the issue on a ballot for a vote. The law requires the signatures to represent 10 percent of voters in the last gubernatorial election and 10 percent of voters in at least 15 of Utah's 29 counties.

The office will decide Monday if the petition drive is either sufficient or insufficient.If Gov. Huntsman declares the petition as sufficient he may set an election date, but if nothing happens the issue will go on the November 2008 ballot.

Utahns for Public Schools (UTPS) had originally started collecting the signatures in order to get the new voucher law, which provides money for private school tuition to those who don't already have a child in private school, overturned by registered voters. Opponents had spent weeks collecting the signatures and had submitted more than 131,000 to county clerks, who spent the last two weeks certifying signatures and discounting the ones from unregistered voters or those who had already signed.

dradunich@davisclipper.com