The US Supreme Court Thursday night blocked a lower court decision that would have loosened some absentee voting restrictions in Alabama and allowed counties to set up curbside voting for the July 14 runoff.

The 5-4 decision by the nation’s high court split down ideological lines. The justices did not issue an opinion.

In May, a group of plaintiffs with health issues sued to loosen current absentee voting rules requiring the signature of witnesses and photo ID requirements, as well as state policy that prevents curbside voting. The plaintiffs argued that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the requirements forced them to put their health at risk and were an unnecessary burden on their right to vote.

Alabama’s daily seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases more than tripled in June, and the seven- day average for positive tests was at 13.6% on Thursday, suggesting community transmission.

Democrats in the Alabama Legislature filed three separate bills this spring to allow no-excuse absentee voting in the state. None of the bills came to a vote. Gov. Kay Ivey and other Republican leaders are opposed to expanding current voting options in the state.

Attorneys for the state of Alabama argued that the existing requirements were not onerous and noted steps state officials had already taken in response to the pandemic, including moving the date of the primary runoff from March 31 to July 14.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement that the state “is again able to enforce laws that help ensure the fairness and integrity of our elections.” The Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Alabama Disability Advocacy Program, which represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement Thursday they were “deeply disappointed” in the ruling.

“Our goal is simple though unfortunately at odds with Alabama officials,” Caren Short, a senior staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement. “We want to ensure that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alabama voters will not be forced to choose between exercising their fundamental right to vote and protecting their health or the health of a loved one.”

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill praised the ruling in a statement Thursday.

“I am excited that the United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of those who believe in (the) strict interpretation of the Constitution and has decided to grant the Stay and not endorse legislating from the bench,” the statement said.

The ruling means Alabama officials can block counties that want to set up curbside voting options for those unwilling to step into a voting precinct.

U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon ruled in favor of the plaintiffs earlier this month and barred the state from interfering with efforts to set up curbside voting. Kallon also suspended a witness requirement for absentee ballots cast in Jefferson, Mobile and Lee counties and suspended a photo ID requirement for voters aged 65 or older or with a disability in those counties. The ruling only applied to the July 14 runoff.

Kallon wrote that “requiring a voter to risk her health by foregoing social distancing guidelines presents a ‘nearly insurmountable hurdle.’”

“Requiring a voter to ask another person to clear this hurdle on their behalf, even if this request proves successful, could easily dissuade them from voting,” he wrote.A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week refused to block Kallon’s order. U.S. Circuit judges Robin Rosenbaum and Jill Pryor accused the state of minimizing the risks of COVID-19 in their arguments, writing that it reflected “a serious lack of understanding of or disregard for the science and facts involved here.”In a separate opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant concurred with Rosenbaum and Pryor in the result but wrote that her colleagues second-guessed Alabama’s election rules.