NASHVILLE (AP) - A federal judge is considering a request for a ruling that favors two political parties that say Tennessee laws make it unconstitutionally hard for third parties to get their names on the ballots.

The Green and Constitution parties sued the state in July over the deadline to collect signatures. For a minor political party to get its name on the Tennessee ballot in 2012, more than 40,000 signatures would have to be collected by April 5, which an attorney for the parties argued was too restrictive.

U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes Jr. heard oral arguments Monday over the state's restrictions, which are similar to those Haynes threw out as unconstitutional over a year ago, The Tennessean reported (http://tnne.ws/wOOmFw ).

During the hearing, Haynes chastised Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter for making arguments in defense of the new state laws that it had not presented in the previous case.

"I wish I didn't read your brief," Haynes told the state attorney. "I'm wasting my time."

Haynes had ruled in September 2010 for a similar lawsuit filed by the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties. He found that no minor party had met the requirements to be recognized in Tennessee since 1972. He said that requiring petition signers to declare their party membership was unconstitutional and that the rules taken as a whole "effectively preclude minor political party participation in state and national elections in Tennessee."

If a candidate's party fails to meet the requirements, the candidate is listed as an independent. Republican and Democrats are exempt because those parties receive at least 5 percent of the vote in the most recent governor's race.

After Haynes' ruling, the state legislature made changes in May that removed the requirement that signers have to declare themselves party members and it gave parties about 15 mo re days to gather signatures. But attorney Alan P. Woodruff, who represents the parties, said that deadline is still too early.

"That date is still unconstitutional," said Woodruff, who is also a Democratic congressional candidate. "Basically, they've been denied ballot access by this number."

Woodruff said voter interest is too low in the election cycle to gather signatures from 2.5 percent of registered voters. He said that collecting more than 40,000 signatures would cost the parties about $120,000.

Woodruff argued that having third party candidates listed as independents is not a suitable alternative. "It is not true that it is not important for the candidate to be listed as a member of a party," he said.

Haynes noted that higher court rulings suggest that the state's deadline is unconstitutionally early and asked the state to explain why it needs the signatures so far in advance of an election.

Kleinfelter noted there was a long list of admi nistrative tasks that the state and local election officials must complete to get ready for an election. "It's a lot more complicated than it looks on paper," she said.

Tennessee Coordinator of Election Mark Goins, who also attended the hearing, said the state must comply with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which requires states to provide ballots to military and overseas voters no later than 45 days before an election.

"If that deadline changes, we're going to have a hard time doing that," he said.