The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that voters could cast provisional ballots after their absentee ballots were rejected for failure to follow procedural instructions.

The Commonwealth Supreme Court issued its ruling Wednesday, which will likely affect thousands of millions of absentee ballots cast, The New York Times reported.

The 4-3 decision says the Butler County Board of Elections is required to count provisional ballots cast by several voters whose absentee ballots were rejected because they did not include the required secrecy envelopes. Pennsylvania voters are required to sign and date the secrecy envelopes before mailing their ballots.

The ruling allows Pennsylvania voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected because they did not have a secrecy envelope or because they were missing or had inaccurate information on the envelope to cast provisional ballots.

Provisional ballots are only counted after verification of the voter’s registration. Many counties across the Commonwealth will notify voters if their mail-in ballots are procedurally rejected and allow them to vote provisionally.

The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP appealed to the Commonwealth Supreme Court, arguing that the Butler County Board of Elections properly rejected provisional ballots after mail-in ballots were also rejected .

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party participated in the appeal of the case.

“While Republicans try to block your vote, Democrats protect it and uphold the principle that every eligible voter has the right to make their voice heard, no matter how they vote,” spokespersons said. the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris and the national Democratic Party. ” the committee said in a joint statement. “This decision reaffirms this principle.”