It was a circuitous route, but a ballot measure was submitted to the San Francisco Department of Elections Tuesday afternoon, and voters in November will decide whether to levy a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

The soda tax was supposed to be placed on the ballot last month, following a signature gathering campaign. Proponents were thrilled that they had collected twice the number of signatures needed.

Just one problem: they turned those signatures in a day late.

So they pivoted. San Francisco law permits four supervisors to directly place an initiative on the ballot, and that's what happened here. Supervisors Malia Cohen, Eric Mar, Scott Wiener and Mark Farrell all signed the initiative.

The 14-page proposal links sugary beverages to the problems of obesity and diabetes, and says the measure "is intended to discourage the distribution and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in San Francisco by taxing their distribution."