WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Monday called on Supreme Court of the United States for an emergency order in Pennsylvania that could result in thousands of votes not being counted in this year’s election in the battleground state.

Just over a week before the elections, the court is asked to intervene in a dispute concerning provisional ballots cast by Pennsylvania voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected for failure to follow technical procedures under state law.

The state’s high court ruled 4-3 that election officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose absentee ballots were spoiled because they arrived without required secrecy envelopes.

The electoral battle reached the Supreme Court on the same day Virginia requested the judges’ intervention in a dispute over the purging of voter registrations.

Four years ago, the high court ruled on changes to voting rules in several states, including Pennsylvania, inspired by the pandemic.

In their filing with the high court, state and national Republicans sought an order suspending the state court’s decision or, alternatively, requiring that the provisional ballots be separated and not included in the official vote count while the legal battle plays out.

They argued that the Legislature did not plan to allow voters to start over if they make mistakes on the ballots they mail.

The secrecy envelopes keep the ballots hidden while poll workers open the outer stamped envelopes used to return the entire package. Voters must also sign and date the outer envelopes. Pennsylvania voters have requested 2 million mail-in ballots so far.

Two voters in Butler County in western Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit after the local election board rejected provisional votes they cast after being informed of problems with the ballots they cast. they had sent by post.

A county judge upheld election officials’ decisions.

Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting rules changed dramatically under a 2019 law, dramatically expanding their use and giving rise to a series of lawsuits.

Most counties — but not all — help notify voters before Election Day that their absentee ballot will be rejected, giving them the option to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place, according to the American Liberties Union Civil War of Pennsylvania.