"Just because it is such an expensive process, we would prefer to do it when there's already a statewide election being held," Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said Monday.

The price tag for a statewide election is about $3.5 million.

Roskelley said the issue likely would not go before voters until next year. That could happen during the state's Feb. 5 presidential primary, if lawmakers agree to add it to that ballot. Otherwise, the next regularly scheduled statewide election is set for November 2008.

As for Real's plans if those petition signatures add up, team spokesman Eric Gelfand said he would not comment on speculation. He pointed to the Web site Real has set up to clear up confusion about the stadium, www.rslstadium.com.

The team hopes to complete construction of the stadium in August 2008.

Meanwhile, Get Real Utah is speaking out against the state's referendum process, calling it archaic and hard to navigate.

Gary Forbush, a former Sandy mayoral candidate who joined up with Get Real Utah, said there's need for a statewide referendum reform. Forbush also helped with a referendum effort in Sandy in 2005, against a Wal-Mart proposed in the city's old gravel pit. He's concerned the process pushes residents away.

Swedlund detailed some of those referendum barriers. He said residents should be able to sign a petition electronically; a statewide Internet database should be used rather than counting by counties; a 14-page bill should not be attached to a petition packet but instead a bill summary; and "county issues should involve county signatures, not statewide signatures."

"It's a system set up for the early 1900s rather than early 2000s," Swedlund said. "Why should the Legislature be afraid of the petition process? ... If they don't behave appropriately, they should be reminded of that through a reasonable referendum process."

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

E-mail: astowell@desnews.com