The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday sided with the Republicans in a dispute regarding over 3,000 absentee ballots being sent out late in Cobb County, Georgia.

While a lower court previously extended the deadline for absentee ballots in the suburban county, Georgia's high court ruled that the ballots can only be counted if they arrive by election day.

The Court ordered that consistent with Georgia Code Section 21-2-386, the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration may only count absentee ballots received by the statutory deadline of 7:00 p.m. local time on Election Day, November 5, 2024.

The issue emerged when Cobb County, Georgia's third-largest county located north of Atlanta, had to resort to using U.S. Postal Service express mail and UPS overnight delivery to send over 3,000 absentee ballots to voters. Election officials attempted to mitigate the delay by providing prepaid express return envelopes to facilitate timely ballot returns.

Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration Chairwoman Tori Silas addressed the situation on Thursday, citing faulty equipment and a late surge in absentee ballot requests before the October 25 deadline as the primary causes for the delay. "We want to maintain voter trust by being transparent about the situation," Silas said. "We are taking every possible step to get these ballots to the voters who requested them."

The situation escalated when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to extend the deadline for counting absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day or three days later.

The civil rights organizations filed on behalf of three Cobb County voters who had not received their absentee ballots as of Friday. Their lawsuit argued that while county election officials "have taken some steps to help alleviate the problem, those actions are not nearly enough to safeguard their right to vote."

Under the Supreme Court's order, the Board must maintain strict protocols for handling any affected voters' ballots received after the deadline. These ballots must be stored in secure, sealed containers separate from other voted ballots, and cannot be destroyed until further notice from the Court. The Board is required to notify affected voters of the November 5 deadline through multiple communication channels, including email, text messages, and website announcements.

The ruling particularly impacts over 1,000 out-of-state voters who were sent late absentee ballots. While the county's election headquarters has remained open on weekends and Monday to accept hand-delivered ballots, this accommodation offers little help to those outside Georgia. The Court specified that this order does not affect voters covered by the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

The decision was not unanimous, with Chief Justice Boggs and Justices Ellington and Colvin dissenting. Presiding Justice Peterson recused himself from the case.

This judicial intervention comes during a period of heavy early voting turnout in Georgia. According to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office, over 3.6 million ballots have been cast since early voting began on October 15, including more than 226,000 absentee ballots. This represents participation from over half of Georgia's active voters.

The stakes are particularly high in Georgia, one of seven swing states that could determine the presidential election outcome. Current polling from FiveThirtyEight shows former President Donald Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris by 1.7 percentage points (48.7 to 47 percent) in Georgia as of Friday.

For affected voters who haven't yet returned their ballots, Cobb County election officials have emphasized that they can still vote in person on Election Day Tuesday, or on the final day of early voting Friday.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.