A federal court has directed Pennsylvania counties to accept mail ballots that a voter has failed to date or misdated, a long-awaited decision that could affect thousands of ballots in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

The date a voter writes on the envelope they return a mail ballot in is “immaterial” to its eligibility, Judge Susan Baxter of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday. Under the materiality provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Baxter said ballots should not be rejected over what is essentially a technicality that isn’t related to the voter’s eligibility.

“There are many reasons to date a document,” Baxter wrote, adding, “Dates may also be wholly irrelevant, as in this case. The requirement at issue here is irrelevant in determining when the voter signed their declaration.”

The ruling in the complicated and long-running case could still be appealed within 30 days. If it stands, counties would no longer be forced to disenfranchise voters for failing to date their mail ballot or using a date previous courts have found to be outside an acceptable time range. Plaintiffs including the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania applauded the ruling.