A federal appellate court decision requiring undated mail ballots to be counted in Pennsylvania was temporarily blocked Tuesday by Justice Samuel Alito Jr.

Alito issued what is known as an administrative stay of the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the emergency application Ritter v. Migliori. The stay will be in place until the full court or Alito, who handles emergency matters from the Third Circuit, issues a further order. An administrative stay generally gives the court more time to consider the arguments being made by the parties.