On Friday the Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed an emergency application to SCOTUS in their ongoing challenge to last-minute changes to Pennsylvania election law that allowed ballots received after Election Day to be counted, asking that SCOTUS order each county to segregate ballots received after 8:00 PM on Election Day pending further rulings as to whether those ballots should be counted.

In the filing, PA Republicans noted that the Pennsylvania Secretary of State issued a “guidance” to the counties directing them to segregate, secure, and not canvass or otherwise process ballots received after Election Day, but that numerous counties (at least 25) wouldn’t confirm that they had, in fact, done so. County Boards of Elections argued that the Pennsylvania Secretary of State didn’t have the authority to order them to do so and that the guidance was, in fact, just guidance.

New: PA Republicans filed an emergency application asking SCOTUS to order PA to segregate post-Election Day absentee ballots. The SoS already directed counties to do this, but Rs say they still want SCOTUS to order it (HT @joshgerstein for the doc) https://t.co/ymEjL29Hgi pic.twitter.com/gaSSeg7Wu5

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 6, 2020

Friday evening, Justice Alito ordered that any ballots received after 8 PM on Election Day in PA be segregated and secured and, if counted, counted separately.

BREAKING FROM SCOTUS: Justice Alito has issued an Order than any ballots received after after 8pm on election day in PA be segregated and secured – and if counted, counted separately. There is a petition pending before SCOTUS. Alito orders opposing side to reply by 2p Saturday.

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) November 7, 2020

If those ballots are counted, they have to be counted separately, according Justice Alito’s orders.

Alito order: “… neither the applicant (PA GOP) nor the Secretary has been able to verify that all boards are complying with the Secretary’s guidance, which, it is alleged, is not legally binding on them.”

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) November 7, 2020

Bream added that the late ballots were already supposed to be segregated and secured, but that the PA GOP hasn’t been able to confirm that that’s happening.

Many of you have rightly noted that this segregating/securing was already supposed to be happening. PA GOP told SCOTUS today neither it nor the PA Sec of Commonwealth could get all the county boards of election to confirm they were actually complying. Now there’s a SCOTUS Order.

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) November 7, 2020

In Alito’s order, he reiterated that under the authority of the Supreme Court of the United States those ballots must be segregated and secured. The Defendants have until 2 PM Eastern on Saturday to file a reply brief.