LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A group that wants to put Nebraska’s death penalty on the 2016 ballot has hired a consultant to help circulate petitions before an Aug. 27 deadline.

Lincoln Strategy Group, an Arizona-based firm, will manage paid circulators. Nebraskans for the Death Penalty spokesman Chris Peterson said Thursday that the group has also hired Rod Edwards, a former campaign consultant for Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, Attorney General Jon Bruning and State Auditor Charlie Janssen.

Edwards will focus on volunteer recruitment. Jessica Moenning, a private adviser to Gov. Pete Ricketts, is coordinating the campaign.

The group formed after lawmakers voted to override Ricketts’ veto and abolish the death penalty. Organizers have to gather roughly 57,000 signatures to place the law on the ballot and 115,000 to do so while suspending the law.