CHICAGO (AP) — Courts have dealt setbacks to Republican efforts in three states to restrict voting.

A court Friday blocked a North Carolina law requiring photo identification. Other courts halted measures in Kansas that would have applied strict citizenship requirements and in Wisconsin that placed limits including the times when absentee voting is allowed.

The three rulings came as the 2016 election moves into its final phase with Republican Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton locked in a high-stakes presidential race and control of the U.S. Senate possibly hanging in the balance.

The rulings follow a blow earlier this month to what critics said was one of the nation's most restrictive voting laws in Texas. A federal appeals court said Texas' voter ID law is discriminatory and must be weakened before the November election.