Pennsylvania’s recount in the U.S. Senate race has ended after Bob Casey conceded to Dave McCormick

The statewide recount of votes cast in the U.S. Senate race ended after U.S. Sen. Bob Casey conceded, the Pennsylvania Department of State announced Friday.

Casey, after conceding to U.S. Sen.-elect Dave McCormick on Thursday evening, asked the Department of State to cease its recount effort, which involved the review of ballots across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Secretary of State Al Schmidt said counties were told Thursday night to stop their recounts because “Senator Casey withdrew and continuing the recount would not be in the best interest of taxpayers.”

The recount, if completed, would have cost more than $1 million, according to Department of State estimates. It’s unclear how much the shortened effort cost.

Approximately 10 counties already completed their recounts, while others, like Philadelphia, were just hours from finishing by the time the effort was called off.

“Thank you to all of Pennsylvania’s elections officials for their hard work throughout this election cycle, including counting millions of ballots and continuing to diligently conduct two audits to ensure every eligible vote cast in the Nov. 5 election is accurately counted,” Schmidt said in a news release.

Recounts are automatically triggered in Pennsylvania in statewide races when the margin is less than 0.5%. Casey trailed McCormick by less than 0.25%, or approximately 16,500 votes.

Some national and state Republicans called on Casey to concede before a statewide recount began to save taxpayers money, suggesting that his 16,500-vote deficit was too large to overcome and would not change the outcome. The recount officially got underway on Wednesday, before it was called off Thursday evening.

Counties can now focus on certifying their elections, which must be completed by Nov. 25.