In a last-minute ruling on Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court halted a ruling in Cobb County, Georgia that would have given voters there a three-day extension for absentee ballots that were postmarked on Election Day to be received by Friday at 5 p.m.

Under the new ruling, only ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day will be counted.

Cobb County Voters who have not mailed their ballots by Election Day can still vote in person by turning in their ballots, but the last-minute nature of the ruling may impact the ability to vote for some voters.

The ruling further ordered that any ballots postmarked by Election Day and received after the deadline be kept intact and separate, in case a further ruling would change the rules yet again.

A big mess

The Republican National Committee filed an emergency motion with the court to halt the lower court ruling.

Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration Chairwoman Tori Silas said, "Because the order only addressed to the motion for a stay, we will anticipate the Supreme Court’s final ruling to see whether it ultimately allow these voters additional time to return their ballots or whether we must only count those received by the close of polls on Tuesday."

This could set up a huge mess in the county that could take days or longer to sort out, and if the election comes down to Cobb County in Georgia, it could hold up the results until the case is ultimately decided.

The Southern Poverty Law Center advised voters to vote in person if at all possible, and if they can't, to deliver their absentee ballot in person before the deadline.

Overnight delivery could be an option for those who mailed the ballots on Monday.

"Only as a last resort should voters simply mail their ballots," the SPLC said. "Unfortunately, there are voters who will not be able to access the remaining options and will not have their voices heard in this election as a result of this ruling."

A backlog

The reason for the deadline extension was a backlog in mailing out requested absentee ballots to some 3,000 voters. Officials were working to ship the ballots express mail last week.

At the time, Silas said the elections board wanted to be transparent about the situation.

"We are taking every possible step to get these ballots to the voters who requested them. Unfortunately, we were unprepared for the surge in requests and lacked the necessary equipment to process the ballots quickly," Silas said last week. "I think it’s just indicative of the historic nature of this particular election and all of the interest in this election."

The third-party vendor hired to ship the ballots had equipment issues that caused delays, Elections Director Tate Fall said.