Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is now leaning toward a November vote on the voucher referendum, a change from a preference for February he expressed two weeks ago and a return to his initial instinct to let people vote "sooner rather than later."

Huntsman expects to officially announce an election date within the next week, spokesman Mike Mower said Monday.

"[November] is the earliest feasible date to hold this election," he said. "It came down to cost and we decided to try to split costs with municipalities."

Utah's new school voucher law is headed for a public vote after a petition drive successfully collected signatures from at least 10 percent of 2004's registered voters in 25 Utah counties. Now the public gets to decide whether to repeal the controversial law, which appropriates $9.3 million from the state's general fund to private-school tuition assistance.

Advocates on both sides of the issue agree a special election in June would suffer from low turnout and inadequate voter education. The next option is November's municipal general election. Because some cities and counties use punch cards, and others aren't scheduled for elections, it would cost $3.5 million to convert local elections for a statewide referendum, said Joe Demma, chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert.

Those concerns had led Huntsman to lean toward February's Western States Presidential Primary, the nearest fully funded statewide election. But he's now saying he wants to split costs with municipalities and resolve the issue before the 2008 legislative session.

Mower said closed primary races weren't a factor in moving away from a February vote. Only registered Republicans may vote in Utah's Republican primaries, but anyone can vote in Democratic primaries. Electronic voting machines would allow any registered voter to cast a referendum ballot, Demma said.

The current preference for November also was not driven by a State Board of Education's decision to seek legal advice before implementing a voucher program using an amended version of the original voucher law that is not affected by the referendum.

"There's been some discussion but not a lot of pressure from any particular group or organization," Mower said.

If he calls for a November election, Huntsman will ask cities and counties to chip in money they budgeted for local races to offset the cost of a statewide referendum. The Lieutenant Governor's Office is polling city and county officials to figure out how much they could contribute to the cause, Demma said.

"They'll work with us in coming up with a price tag," Mower said. "And our office will work with the Legislature in determining how the costs will be covered."