Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia apologized for claiming court precedent "doesn't matter" in relation to provisional ballots.

A Democratic election official in Pennsylvania offered an impassioned apology Wednesday for claiming “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country” to justify counting about 600 faulty ballots in defiance of state Supreme Court rulings.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey called Republican David McCormick to concede in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate election. The move comes after the race was too close to call and triggered an automatic recount.

Democratic-majority election boards in Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Bucks counties voted last week to count the ballots that lacked a correct date.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey asked for the recount to be ended, the Pennsylvania Department of State told counties

According to unofficial results, Republican Dave McCormick leads incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by roughly 16,000 votes. "That is a staggeringly close number considering that 36,604 Philadelphians chose to undervote the race," said Philadelphia Commissioner Lisa M Deeley (D), meaning they voted for President but skipped over the Senate race.

Bucks County has been at the center of controversy since a commissioner said she willingly decided to ignore a court directive to disqualify certain ballots.

Republican Dave McCormick will defeat Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, CNN projects, boosting the GOP majority in the Senate next year.

A recount is underway for the 2024 Pennsylvania Senate race which saw Democratic Senator Bob Casey face off against Republican challenger Dave McCormick.