PHOENIX (AP) - Lawyers for plaintiffs in one of two pending lawsuits challenging Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage are asking a federal court to combine the suits into one case.

A motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court says the cases should be consolidated because they involve the same legal issues and because consolidation would save time and effort.

The motion asks that a case filed earlier this month become part of the case from a separate filed in January.

The two cases are now assigned to different judges.

Lawmakers approved a state law barring same-sex marriages in 1996. Seven years later, an Arizona appeals court upheld the constitutionality of the law.

Voters in 2008 amended the Arizona Constitution to include the ban.