The Arkansas Secretary of State on Wednesday rejected a ballot measure that would have guaranteed access to abortions up to 18-weeks in the state.

Secretary of State John Thurston wrote to Arkansas for Limited Government, the group that was behind the initiative. Thurston stated the group had not submitted the required statements regarding paid signature gatherers.

The group announced on Friday that it had collected more than 90,704 signatures, which was the minimum required to place the amendment of the State Constitution on the ballot.

The proposed amendment would amend the Arkansas Constitution in order to prohibit the state from “prohibiting, penalizing, delaying, or restricting abortion services” at any stage of pregnancy up to 18 weeks.

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Arkansas has banned all abortions except when it is necessary to save a patient’s life.

Thurston claimed that the group failed to provide a written statement that each canvasser received proper documentation as well as a brief overview of state law before the signature collection began.

Other sponsors of initiative petitions, however, met this requirement. “I must therefore reject your submission,” wrote he.

Arkansas for Limited Government stated that they had sent the statement via email more than 12 times, and requested a time period for the office to receive a copy in hardcopy.

Thurston said that 14,143 out of 101,525 signatures submitted were collected by canvassers who are paid. The remaining 87,832 signatures from volunteers fall more than 3,300 below the minimum number.

He wrote: “Therefore even if I accepted your submission, I’d be forced to conclude that your petition was insufficient because it did not obtain the 90,704 required signatures.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, the group said that it was “alarmed” and “outraged” at Thurston’s letters. The group stated that it worked closely with the Secretary of State’s Office to ensure all rules were followed.

The group stated that “until today, there was no reason to doubt that the paperwork that they provided us was accurate and complete.” They added that “Arkansas Law does not allow the Secretary of state to make unfounded legal interpretations, as he did by declaring today that we haven’t completed the steps to disqualify.”

Up to 11 states, including Colorado Missouri and Florida, could vote on state constitutional amendments protecting abortion access this year. Five states have confirmed that they will be put to a vote, and other are at various stages of moving similar measures.

Arizona and Nebraska announced in the same month that they had collected sufficient signatures to ensure abortion access measures could be placed on their state ballots.