Dave McCormick is suing provisional ballots in Philadelphia in a tight race against U.S. Senator Bob Casey

Is the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania over? It depends on who you ask.

And in the case of Republican Dave McCormick, declared the winner Thursday by The Associated Press, the answer appears to be both yes and no.

At a news conference Friday in Pittsburgh, McCormick declared victory and pledged to work with officials from both sides to secure the border and improve the economy.

“I don’t care who voted for me or who didn’t vote for me,” McCormick said. “Today I turn the page. “I am focused on serving every Pennsylvanian.”

But just hours earlier, in a Philadelphia courtroom, he told a slightly different story. McCormick, in two petitions filed delayed Thursday night, signaled his intention to potentially challenge tens of thousands of provisional ballots cast in the city, arguing that counting these and other votes could “affect … the outcome of the election.”

Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. he refused to budge despite the AP’s call. Considering that the lead between the candidates was about 37,000 votes as of Friday evening, he still had hope that these ballots would aid him regain the advantage.

“The number of provisional ballots expected in areas that favor Senator Casey, such as Philadelphia and its suburbs, is further evidence that this race is too close to call,” Casey spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said Friday. “As the McCormick campaign acknowledged in its lawsuit this morning, counting these ballots could have an “impact on the outcome of the election.”

» READ MORE: Casey did not give up in the Senate race. What ballots are left and will there be a recount?

Even if the provisional votes don’t aid Casey make up the difference, they could be enough to trigger automatic recount provisions under Pennsylvania law in races decided by a majority of 0.5% or less. As of Friday, that margin was hovering around 0.54%, just outside that range. Whether a recount will take place will likely not be announced until Wednesday.

Still, Casey faces an uphill battle to retain the seat he has held since 2007. A recount usually results in miniature changes in each candidate’s vote totals. But because these changes can go both ways, they rarely affect the election outcome unless it was virtually tied to a recount.

Casey would need to dominate the remaining ballots that will be counted by Wednesday to get close to the recount.

As of Friday morning, county clerks indicated there were approximately 45,000 ballots still to be counted in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties. In Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, officials said 16,989 ballots remained to be counted.

However, some of these ballots may ultimately be rejected due to procedural flaws. The figure also includes an unknown number of military and overseas ballots that have not yet been returned but will still count if they arrive by November 12.

Tens of thousands of voters have cast provisional ballots in every election for a variety of reasons, ranging from confusion about whether they are registered to vote to cases where someone may have submitted a faulty absentee ballot that was rejected but later turned up to vote at polling stations.

County election workers typically hold off on reviewing such ballots until they can verify the voter’s eligibility and determine whether their ballots should count.

Philadelphia city commissioners began the process Friday morning, reviewing provisional ballots and determining which of the approximately 20,000 cast by city voters should be included and which should be discarded.

In Thursday’s court filings, McCormick asked a judge to order Republicans additional access to collect provisional ballots in Philadelphia – a request that was denied Friday morning by Common Pleas Court Judge Jessica Brown.

Additionally, McCormick’s campaign sought an injunction to challenge provisional ballots in broad categories, rather than fighting them one by one before the city board of elections.

Campaign lawyers also asked to seize an unspecified number of provisional ballots that were cast at polling places by voters who had previously submitted absentee ballots that were rejected due to procedural flaws such as missing dates or envelope secrecy.

Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that these provisional ballots should count, pushing back against Republican demands that they be excluded by arguing that those voters had already voted by mailing in a ballot — even a rejected one.

The GOP appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has so far declined to take up the case. But the Court’s three conservative justices – Samuel A. Alito Jr., Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch – signaled a potential willingness to reconsider the issue after the election, calling it “a matter of major importance.”

Time will tell whether a tight Pennsylvania Senate race will be a reason to take this issue back to the highest court in the land. But in his Thursday filing, McCormick signaled he was willing to do so if necessary.

“Such a case is ripe for appeal to the United States Supreme Court,” he wrote.

Read the petition: