Leaders of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative petition drive believe they have collected enough signatures to get the proposed constitutional amendment banning affirmative action on the November ballot.

They will hand in those signed petitions to the secretary of state’s office today, one day before the deadline, according to a Wednesday news release.

They must turn in about 114,000 signatures — 10 percent of the state’s registered voters — to get the constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall.

The group sponsoring the petition drive has reported spending more than $461,000 so far to collect signatures.

If approved by voters in November, the initiative would place language in the Nebraska Constitution that the state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

Supporters of the measure say it levels the playing field, giving everyone an equal chance at every job. Opponents say it plays to people’s fears that unqualified minorities are being picked over qualified nonminorities.

Affirmative action doesn’t mean giving preferences to minorities, opponents say. It’s about ensuring efforts to recruit minority candidates and keeping people accountable in hiring decisions.

Nebraska is one of five states targeted this year by the American Civil Rights Initiative’s Super Tuesday for Equal Rights Fund, founded by California businessman and activist Ward Connerly.