ENTERPRISE — A total of 347 signatures of the 242 needed were on a petition filed with Wallowa County Clerk Sandy Lathrop on Friday, July 31, that — if approved in November — would require the county commissioners to meet quarterly to consider the county’s interests in becoming a part of Idaho, according to a press release.

Grant Darrow, who lives near Elgin, has headed up the signature-gathering effort for Wallowa County and worked on petition efforts in nearby counties. Lathrop was not available Monday, Aug. 3, but Darrow said when he submitted the petitions, she immediately began going through the signatures. They must be confirmed as those of valid registered voters.

Similar petitions have been circulated in as many as 19 counties with varying degrees of success, according to the Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho Facebook page. Today, Wednesday, Aug. 5, is the deadline to submit petitions for the November ballot.

The effort is in response to what supporters see as a lack of response to rural Oregon’s needs and desires on the part of the urban-dominated state government in Salem.

To move the state border would require the approval of both state legislatures and Congress. It would also require changing the way things are done in the portions of Oregon that would become Idaho, such as the implementation of Idaho sales tax, a lower state income tax and a host of other changes.