MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A judge was wrong to block part of an Alabama state law that makes it a felony to provide gifts or payments for helping with an absentee ballot application, state attorneys told an appeals court panel Tuesday.

The Alabama attorney general’s office asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a judge’s preliminary injunction last year that found the gift and payment ban is “not enforceable as to blind, disabled, or illiterate voters.”

The state argued the provision is needed to prevent paid political operatives from preying on vulnerable voters. But a lawyer representing groups that challenged the law argued it violates the Voting Rights Act’s guarantees of assistance for voters who need it.

The three-judge panel did not indicate when they would rule.

The

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