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.

Georgia's third-largest county said that thousands of absentee ballots are being mailed late before the November 5 election. Election officials in Cobb County, which is north of Atlanta, were using U.S. Postal Service express mail and UPS overnight delivery to send over 3,000 absentee ballots to voters on time.

Georgia Supreme Court ruled that ballots in Cobb County will only be counted if they are received by 7 p.m. Nov. 5 after election officials mailed absentee ballots late.