Arizona abortion-rights advocates submitted more than 800,000 signatures Wednesday to get an abortion referendum on the ballot this year.

Organizers from Arizona for Abortion Access gathered more than 823,685 signatures, which far exceeds the required 383,923 to get a question on the ballot. Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition that includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and Planned Parenthood of Arizona, turned in hundreds of boxes filled with signed petitions to the Arizona secretary of state’s office in Phoenix.

It is believed to be the most signatures gathered for a referendum in state history.

“That was our goal from the get-go,” Arizona for Abortion Access spokeswoman Dawn Penich said. “We started collecting signatures in September and October 2023 and saw how passionate people are about this issue.”

Arizona has a 15-week ban on abortion with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. Abortion access was put in limbo earlier this year after the state Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 near-total ban on abortion was enforceable. Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) signed legislation that prevented that ban from taking place.

If successful on Election Day, the ballot measure would enshrine the right to an abortion and “that the state of Arizona may not interfere with before the point of fetal viability.” The point of fetal viability is believed to be around 23-24 weeks of pregnancy.

Organizers are hoping the ballot question will have down-ballot support for other Democratic candidates.

“As we hit the hottest part of the summer, we’re seeing motivation from our folks unlike anything we’ve seen in our seven years of organizing in Arizona,” Mari Urbina, the managing director of Indivisible and the leader of its Battleground: Arizona program, said in a statement. “Because of the heat, most of our volunteers usually take a pause from in-person organizing in July.

“This year, we encouraged our local group leaders to plan for a couple of week hiatus, knowing how hard their volunteer teams had worked all spring,” she continued. “What we’re finding is those volunteers are refusing to take a break — they’re too excited to move right into working to elevate the pro-choice candidates in their area.”

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Arizona will join five other states, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and South Dakota, with abortion measures on the ballot this year. Organizers in Arkansas and Nebraska say they have enough valid signatures for their own abortion measures and plan to turn in the signatures this week.

County election officials have until Aug. 22 to verify the validity of the signatures.