After only 12 days, an Oregon petition drive to put the issue of gay marriage before voters next year has gathered more than one-third of the signatures needed to reach the ballot box.

According to Oregon Says I Do campaign spokeswoman Amy Ruiz, the campaign has already collected 42,000 of the 116,284 signatures needed to qualify for the November 2014 ballot.

She added that some 1,700 volunteers have collected roughly 90 percent of the signatures, with the rest coming from campaign staffers. Supporters have until next summer to collect the remaining signatures.

Using volunteers, Ruiz told The Oregonian, helps the campaign to build its organization.

If successful, the referendum would reverse the state's 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples and Oregon would make history as the first state to do so.

Oregon, which currently recognizes gay and lesbian couples with domestic partnerships, is not the only state considering repeal. Efforts are also underway in Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. In all instances except Nevada, citizen initiatives are being used to put the issue on the ballot.