Opponents of same-sex marriage Tuesday turned in more than enough signatures to take the issue to a referendum in November. The signatures must still be validated by the Board of Elections.

The Maryland Catholic Conference and the Maryland Marriage Alliance joined forces in gathering signatures, according to the Catholic Review.

The General Assembly authorized the recognition of same-sex marriage earlier this year, making Maryland the eighth jurisdiction to take such action.

For the issue to go to referendum, opponents needed to have 56,000 signatures total, according to Reuters, one third of which had to be submitted by May 31.

The Maryland Marriage Alliance, a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the "traditional definition of marriage," said Tuesday that it submitted more than 120,000 signatures requesting the same-sex issue be put in the hands of voters, reported MSNBC.

“Every single day, we have been getting more and more momentum,” the Rev. Derek McCoy, executive director of Maryland Marriage Alliance, told WJZ.

The majority of signatures are from Baltimore County, according to WBAL.

Other counties where the desire to take the issue to referendum was strong were Montgomery, Prince George's, Anne Arundel and Harford, reported The Baltimore Sun.

Maryland Marriage Alliance stored the signed petitions in a steel vault inside a warehouse in Hanover, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Opponents of same-sex marriage said they will continue to collect signatures until the June 30 deadline.