DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from Republicans that could have led to thousands of provisional ballots not being counted in Pennsylvania. The justices on Friday left in place a state Supreme Court ruling that elections officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected. As of Thursday, about 9,000 ballots out of more than 1.6 million returned have arrived at elections offices around Pennsylvania lacking a secrecy envelope, a signature or a date, according to state records. Pennsylvania is the biggest presidential election battleground this year, with 19 electoral votes. Former President Donald Trump won the state in 2016, then lost it in 2020.