RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia's attorney general is urging a federal appeals court to reject a bid by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and three others to be added to the state's GOP presidential primary ballot.

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Perry sued after failing to submit the 10,000 voter signatures required to get on the ballot. Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman also failed to qualify and joined the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge John Gibney said Friday that a provision allowing only Virginia residents to circulate candidate petitions is probably unconstitutional. But he ruled that plaintiffs waited too late to challenge the law.

Perry appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The attorney general said in court papers Sunday that the constitutionally sound signature requirement, not the residency restriction, kept Perry off the ballot.