Harrisburg, PA — Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced today that unofficial results in the Nov. 5 general election race for U.S. Senate have triggered a legally required statewide recount. Senator Bob Casey and Dave McCormick have vote totals within the one-half of 1 percent margin that triggers a mandatory recount under state law. As of Wednesday, the unofficial returns for the U.S. Senate race submitted by all 67 counties show the following results for the top two candidates: Robert P. Casey Jr. – 3,350,972 (48.50%) and David H. McCormick – 3,380,310 (48.93%). Once counties finish counting their ballots, they must begin the recount no later than Wednesday, Nov. 20. They must complete the recount by noon on Nov. 26 and must report results to the Secretary by noon on Nov. 27. Results of the recount will not be published until Nov. 27th. The Department estimates that the recount cost will exceed $1 million of taxpayer funds. This is the eighth time the automatic recount provision has been triggered since the passage of Act 97 of 2004. In the four cases in which the recount was carried out, the initial results of the election were affirmed.