The U.S. Supreme Court will not postpone or intervene in the creation of a new congressional map for Pennsylvania.

Justice Samuel Alito on Monday rejected an emergency petition made by state Republican leaders for the high court to consider a stay in the redistricting order handed down by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Jan. 22.

Meanwhile, the timeline for candidates for the House of Representatives to file has been pushed back.

A group of voters persuaded all five Democratic judges on the state's high court that the map violated the state constitution. The order said new districts should be compact and contiguous and only split counties, cities, towns, boroughs, townships or wards when needed to ensure population equality.

It gave the legislature a Feb. 9 deadline to submit a new map to Gov. Tom Wolf, which would be sent to the court for approval by Feb. 15 and reviewed in time for preparations for the May primary election.

If an acceptable map is not submitted to the court, it would create one itself, the order said.

Democrats have about 800,000 more registered voters than Republicans and hold all three elected statewide row offices, but Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Republicans have a 13-5 edge in the House of Representatives.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Speaker of the House Mike Turzai issued a joint statement in which they said they would do their best to comply with the order, though they may pursue “further legal action.”

They still believe that the court does not have the authority to draw a new map and called for the court to release its opinion.

“It is astounding that 14 days after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the map to be unconstitutional, the Justices have still not issued a majority opinion. This irresponsible approach handicapped Justice Alito by not providing him with more information, just as it has handicapped the Legislature,” the statement said.

All of Butler County is included in the 3rd Congressional District and is represented by Rep. Mike Kelly. Three Democratic challengers, one from Cranberry Township and two from Mercer County, have announced their intention to run.

In a statement Monday, Kelly said that his focus is serving his constituents, no matter where they live.

“Like all Pennsylvanians, I am watching this entire process play out with great interest,” the statement said. “Nonetheless, my foremost priority is still providing the best possible service to the constituents of the Third District each and every day.”

It appears that the Republican leaders have run out of legal maneuvers for now, said Michael Coulter, Grove City College political science professor.

“There's only two options right now: either the Legislature draws the boundaries or the state Supreme Court draws the boundaries,” he said.

This process could make campaigning difficult for people planning to challenge incumbents this year, because they don't yet know what district they should file for and where they should campaign.

“This is like an incredible month of uncertainty in Pennsylvania elections,” Coulter said.

Wolf, in a statement, said that leaders should obey the court's order.

“My team is ready, willing and able to work with the General Assembly to ensure a new map is fair and within the clear orders given by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” he said.

Rep. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson County, issued a memo seeking co-sponsors for a bill that would aim to impeach the five members of the court who voted in favor of the order. The judges signed an order that “blatantly” contradicts the language of the state constitution, he said in the memo.

On Friday, the Department of State announced a revised calendar for filing nomination petitions in the congressional races to comply with the court order. The period to circulate petitions was delayed to Feb. 27 through March 20. For all other races, it is Feb. 13 through March 6.

Since the Legislature and governor are forced to work on an extremely short timeline, another possibility is that the court could order the department of state to rework the calendar again, pushing the primary date back, Coulter said. Some states hold primaries as late as September, he said.

Shari Brewer, director of the Butler County Election Bureau, said Monday that the new schedule for the congressional races could create challenges for her office as the primary draws nearer.

Under the new schedule, the last day to file objections to nomination petitions is March 27. If objections are filed and court hearings are scheduled for early or mid-April, that would leave the bureau with less than a month to circulate absentee ballots and complete other preparations for the May 15 primary.

“There's a lot of things we need to be doing a month before the primary to ensure it's a secure and fair election,” Brewer said.

An even bigger hardship, she said, would be planning for a different primary election date. The bureau starts scheduling polling places and getting volunteers signed up about one year in advance, she said.

Historically, at midterm elections momentum shifts back to the party that lost the presidential election two years earlier, Coulter said.

Even if the map is not redrawn, it is likely that Democrats would take a couple seats from the Republicans in Pennsylvania, he said.

If a redrawn map makes the districts more even or is favorable to Democrats, they could gain as many as five seats, Coulter said. Democrats would need to flip 23 districts around the country to retake control of the House, where Republicans currently hold a 45-person advantage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.