The League of Women voters submitted over 2,100 signatures to the Marion County Commissioners who are expected to certify the text and submit it to the Marion County Board of Elections by the August 21st deadline.

The petition drive began July 9 with about 35 petition circulators who, in a little over 3 weeks, collected 1182 county signatures and 920 city signatures for a total of 2102 signatures.

The Board of Elections recently determined that the petition drive circulators would need to collect a minimum of 1214 valid registered voter signatures, 592 from the city and 622 from the county.

The petition will put to the vote a merger between the Marion County and Marion City Health Districts.

The Marion Area Chamber of Commerce’s Maximus, Incorporated study showed the proposed merger would save over a quarter of a million dollars each year, although both health districts dispute those numbers.

Details of the merger, however, would be determined after the vote since the districts would not be compelled to merge until January 1st, 2010, giving a year to work out details.