RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal judge is considering a bid by four candidates to get on Virginia's Republican presidential primary ballot.

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U.S. District Judge John Gibney conducted a nearly four-hour hearing Friday on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's lawsuit challenging Virginia's ballot qualifying requirements. He said he would rule later in the day.

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

They are asking Gibney to declare Virginia's law unconstitutional and add their names to the March 6 ballot. Gibney already has said a provision allowing only Virginia residents to circulate candidate petitions is probably unconstitutional.

Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for Virginia's primary.