The writing has been on the wall for a while, but now it’s official – Medicaid expansion won’t be on the ballot next November.

If conservative activists manage to refer Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan to the ballot, their chances of getting voters to overturn it are grim, according to a new poll by the pro-expansion Restoring Arizona organization.

About 200 Medicaid expansion opponents gathered on the House lawn Saturday morning to officially kick off the United Republican Alliance of Principled Conservatives’ referendum drive.

The push to refer Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan to the ballot began in earnest as opponents of the bill rallied at the Capitol before fanning out across the Valley to collect signatures.