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COLUMBUS — Payday lenders have 10 more days — until Oct. 3 — to gather the additional 55,637 valid signatures needed to get their issue on the Nov. 4 ballot.

They want a vote to repeal a key portion of a new law limiting annual interest rates to 28 percent, down from 391 percent.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said on Tuesday, Sept. 23, that petitions they submitted had 185,729 valid signatures, short of the 241,366 required. That represents 6 percent of the vote in the 2006 governor's race.

They also fell short on a second requirement. They needed signatures equaling 3 percent of the ballots cast in the 2006 governor's race in at least 44 counties and met this threshold in just 33 counties.

A "yes" vote on the issue would limit the interest rate to 28 percent, while a "no" vote would keep it at 391 percent.

Opponents say the new interest rate would eliminate jobs by putting payday lenders out of business, but supporters say it's needed to fix a system that traps borrowers in debt.

"We're going to work very hard to ensure that Ohioans have an opportunity to vote 'no,' " said Kim Norris, spokeswoman for Ohioans for Financial Freedom.

Sandy Theis from the Vote Yes on Issue 5 committee said, "We fully expect them to be on the ballot."