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The signature-gathering is over, and the waiting has just begun.

Supporters of a ballot initiative to require paid sick leave for workers in Albuquerque marched Downtown on Monday to celebrate the end of their petition drive.

They say they gathered more than 24,000 signatures from registered voters – well over the 14,218 required to earn a spot on the ballot.

But the total still must be verified by City Clerk Natalie Howard and her staff. They were continuing on Monday to go through the petition to make sure the signatures are from registered city voters.

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A little fewer than 80 percent of the signatures checked so far have been verified, a pace that would give the campaign about 19,000 valid signatures if it continues.

In any case, once the city certifies that enough signatures are valid, Howard will notify the City Council.

The council is then required to approve the ordinance on its own or send the idea to voters, either in the Nov. 8 general election this year or the city election in October 2017.

Bernalillo County would also have to approve, if the proposal were to go on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The ordinance would require every employer in Albuquerque to offer its workers a chance to earn an hour of sick leave for every 30 hours they work. Employees at large businesses – 40 or more workers – could use up to seven sick days a year, if they’d earned that much. At smaller employers, workers could get five days.

“No one should have to choose between their health and paying their bills,” said Amanda Gallegos, an 18-year-old who is working for the campaign.

She addressed a crowd of about 75 supporters who gathered Monday afternoon to march from Civic Plaza to the City Clerk’s Office, near Second and Lomas NW.

Opponents have formed their own coalition, which includes the New Mexico Restaurant Association and NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association.

They say they don’t object to the concept of sick leave, but that the details of the ordinance are too onerous. The paperwork is burdensome, and the ordinance could leave employers vulnerable to unfair litigation, they say, among other objections.

Some businesses might leave the city or avoid expansion in Albuquerque if the ordinance passes, opponents say.

All employers in Albuquerque would have to comply, no matter their size, if they have “physical premises” within the city.