Georgia's top court declined on Tuesday to hear an expedited appeal by Republicans of a decision blocking a new rule that would have required poll workers to hand-count ballots, a change that voting rights groups warned could have caused chaos.

The Georgia Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by national and state Republicans to immediately reinstate recently passed election rules that a judge had ruled were invalid.

Georgia judges are picking apart controversial new election rules in the state as its early-voting turnout breaks records. The rules, imposed by Georgia’s Republican-led State Election Board, stood to upend election procedures in the weeks before Election Day.