The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that certain absentee ballots can only be counted if they arrive by Election Day, a move that will set aside at least 3,000 late-arriving ballots pending further litigation.

Georgia’s highest court has stayed a lower court ruling that would have allowed certain voters in the state’s third-largest county who received their absentee ballots late to return them after the deadline.

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