SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The attorneys general of nine states, including Alaska, joined conservative legal groups in urging the California Supreme Court to delay finalizing its ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. The request was denied Wednesday.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed late Thursday, they said they have an interest in the case because they would have to determine if their states would recognize the marriages of gay residents who wed in California.

The states involved were Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. Except for Florida, all of them have constitutional provisions banning gay marriage.

On Saturday, New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte announced that New Hampshire was withdrawing from the request because the state addresses the recognition issue in its civil union law.

She said under the law, New Hampshire will recognize a legal gay marriage from California as a civil union.

The attorneys general asked the court to stay its May 15 ruling until after the November election, when California’s voters likely will decide whether to adopt a similar amendment, which would overturn the court’s decision. The court’s decisions normally take effect after 30 days.

What happens in California is being watched carefully elsewhere because unlike Massachusetts, the only U.S. state where same-sex couples can now marry, California does not have a residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license.

“We reasonably believe an inevitable result of such ‘marriage tourism’ will be a steep increase in litigation of the recognition issue in our courts,” Utah Attorney General Mark L. Shurtleff wrote in the brief submitted on behalf of the 10 states.

New York Gov. David Paterson, meanwhile, has indicated that state plans to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions, meaning New Yorkers who get married in California would be entitled to spousal support, and other marriage rights at home.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose office originally argued to uphold the state’s one man-one woman marriage laws, submitted its own brief Thursday urging the Supreme Court not to grant the stay.

“The Court has declared the law governing the right of same-sex couples to marry, and the Attorney General undertakes to give effect to that declaration with no less vigor than he previously sought to give effect to the statutes in dispute,” Brown’s brief states. “It is time for these proceedings to end.”