LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A group that wants to retain Nebraska’s death penalty is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that could prevent the issue from appearing on the November 2016 ballot.

However, death penalty opponents who filed the lawsuit argued in court Monday that the lawsuit should proceed.

The lawsuit argues that the ballot measure to reinstate the punishment after lawmakers abolished the death penalty is invalid because Gov. Pete Ricketts wasn’t listed as a sponsor.

Ricketts donated $200,000 to the effort, but has said his support for the petition drive didn’t make him a sponsor.

Nebraskans for the Death Penalty raised more than $913,000 and spent nearly all of it on the petition drive. The group has said the lawsuit is politically motivated.