PHOENIX (AP) — Supporters of abortion rights in Arizona submitted more than twice the number of signatures needed to The topic on the ballot in November in the important swing state.

Organizers say they have submitted 823,685 signatures, far more than the required 383,923 registered voters. The measure would add an amendment to the state constitution granting a fundamental right to abortion if voters approve it.

County election officials have until August 22 to verify that enough signatures are valid and report the results to the Arizona Secretary of State's office.

Activists in two other states — Nebraska and Arkansas — also plan to submit signatures for abortion ballot measures this week. If those states and Arizona are successful, they will join the ballot bill. five more where the question will be voted on this year: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

The issue is a central part of the democratic campaigns in this year's elections. Opponents of the proposed amendment say it goes too far and could lead to unlimited and unregulated abortions in Arizona. Supporters say an amendment to the state constitution is necessary to ensure that abortion rights cannot simply be eliminated by a Supreme Court decision or a vote in the legislature.

The proposed amendment would allow abortion in Arizona until the fetus can survive outside the womb, typically about 24 weeks, with exceptions to save the mother's life or protect her physical or mental health. The state would be prevented from passing or enforcing laws that would prohibit access to the procedure.

Arizona currently has a ban on abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy.

Representatives of Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition that includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and Planned Parenthood of Arizona, will drop off hundreds of boxes of signed petitions at the Arizona Secretary of State's office Wednesday morning.

Dawn Penich, spokeswoman for Arizona for Abortion Access, said it was the highest number of signatures ever submitted for a citizen's initiative in the state's history.

“That was our goal from the beginning,” said Penich. “We started collecting signatures in September and October 2023 and saw how passionate people are about this issue.”

Arizona's current abortion ban, which took effect in 2022, provides exceptions for medical emergencies and restrictions on medication abortions. It also requires an ultrasound scan before an abortion and parental consent for minors.

Two months ago, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 abortion ban that allowed abortions only to save the life of the mother and made no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. But the Republican-dominated legislature voted to repeal the Civil War-era ban, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs quickly signedThis 19th-century law had been blocked in Arizona since the U.S. Supreme Court guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion nationwide in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

In Nebraska, organizers of a petition to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution expressed confidence that they had collected enough signatures to put the law on the ballot in November.

Allie Berry, campaign manager for Protect Our Rights, and organizers of a competing petition to enshrine the ban on abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy in the Nebraska state constitution declined to provide information on how many signatures they had collected before Wednesday's deadline.

Both initiatives, as well as a third that would ban abortion at all stages by considering embryos as people, require about 123,000 valid signatures – or 10% of the state's registered voters – to be placed on the ballot.

Efforts to ban abortion altogether in Nebraska began eight weeks ago and are unlikely to gather the necessary signatures. The proposal for a 12-week ban – which got rolling in March thanks to a $500,000 donation from Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska – has made a furious last-minute attempt to gather signatures but has signaled it may not reach the minimum number needed.

Supporters of an Arkansas proposal to relax the state's abortion ban face a deadline Friday to submit petitions that would allow them to be placed on the November ballot.

The group behind the measure, Arkansans for Limited Government, said on Facebook and Instagram on Tuesday that 8,200 signatures were still needed. To qualify, the group must submit at least 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters.

The proposed amendment would prohibit the state from banning abortions within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy. The proposal provides exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities, and to protect the life of the mother. It would also exempt abortions performed to protect the mother from a physical disorder, physical disease, or physical injury.

Arkansas has banned nearly all abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Arkansas' ban currently only allows abortions that protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency.

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Associated Press reporters Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.