Stickers are pictured during the primary election at the Orchard Hill Church on Tuesday in Butler. Butler Eagle File Photo

The county elections bureau stopped its recount of the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race after incumbent Democrat Bob Casey conceded the election to Dave McCormick, more than two weeks after Election Day.

Butler County commissioner chairwoman Leslie Osche said the Bureau of Elections stopped the recount early Friday morning, Nov. 22, under the direction of the Pennsylvania Department of State.

She added that as of Friday afternoon she was unsure if the bureau found any discrepancies in its recount that differed from the initial count.

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead.

As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 16,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted.

That was well within the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law.

But no election official expected a recount to change more than a couple of hundred votes or so, and Pennsylvania's highest court dealt Casey a blow when it refused to allow counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a correct handwritten date on the return envelope.

In a statement, Casey said he had called McCormick to congratulate him.

“As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last,” Casey said.