The next move for groups on either side of the voucher issue will be educating the public about the law, and both sides say they are launching education campaigns.

Meanwhile, even though HB148 is on hold until voters have their say, a second voucher bill that was passed the last night of the session could hold the law in place.

HB174 amended the voucher law by giving the State Office of Education additional money to administer the program and requiring teachers at schools where voucher students are enrolled to have background checks.

Since the voucher law was yet to be enacted, leaders included a large portion of the language from the original bill in the amendment, thus creating what some people believe is a second, separate voucher bill.

Voucher supporters, along with the attorney general, say HB174 has the power to create a voucher program without HB148. Opponents say there is no way to implement a voucher program from a bill that was written as an amendment.

The Utah Board of Education could decide in a meeting Thursday whether to implement a voucher program. Burningham, although not speaking for his board, said HB174 consists of fragments, and the state would be hard-pressed to create a program when the bill lacks language regarding definitions, purposes, enforcement and accountability.

"If the public decides they don't want it, then the amendments go, as well," Burningham said. He quoted a 1982 Supreme Court decision that said, "If the trunk is uprooted, then the branches too must fail."

Regardless of what the state board decides, one or both sides will most likely sue.

Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, hopes to clear out all the ambiguity when the governor calls a special session to set the election date. McCoy is asking the governor to allow the Legislature to consider a bill that would also put HB174 on hold until the public votes.

If the referendum is successful, then HB174 will die, along with HB148.

"The public is looking for a clear up or down vote on the issue of vouchers, period. And the only way we can get that is to put the whole issue on the ballot," McCoy said. "If we don't do something like that, we could have ourselves in position where the people say, 'We don't want it,' but it is still being implemented."

A handful of people opposed to the referendum filed a motion in 3rd District Court on Friday, asking the court for a restraining order against the lieutenant governor's office to stop the counting of the petition signatures. The group that filed the request — Utahns for Electoral Fairness — had briefly examining the petitions and believed enough of the signatures were fraudulent to nullify the referendum.

"That issue is not something my office can or does look at," said Joe Demma, spokesman for the office of lieutenant governor. "We count the certified signatures and that's it."

Demma said a judge denied the restraining-order request, allowing the counting to continue throughout the weekend.

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Contributing: Wendy Leonard

E-mail: terickson@desnews.com