ABC affiliate WNEP-TV mistakenly broadcast election results showing Vice President Kamala Harris winning Pennsylvania — just one week before Election Day. The graphic, which showed VP Harris winning 52% of the vote over Republican rival Donald Trump’s 47%, appeared during the station’s Sunday coverage of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Mexico, sparking a wave of conspiracy theories and online criticism of the network. .
Kamala Harris criticized for revealing ‘pathetic’ new accent at Philadelphia event (Photo by Andrew Harnick/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP) (Getty Images via AFP)
WNEP-TV has since clarified that the numbers were “randomly generated” for equipment testing purposes and were not based on any actual vote tally.
Read also: Trump’s media stock rise ousts Elon Musk X as his chances of winning rise
ABC mistakenly broadcasts election results in Pennsylvania
“These numbers were not supposed to appear on the screen, and an error occurred on WNEP’s part,” the broadcaster reportedly told the Daily Mail about the “glitch.” The broadcaster explained the error that caused an uproar on social media, explaining that the numbers that were broadcast were merely “randomly generated test results” and had nothing to do with the actual vote counting processes.
“The numbers appearing on the screen were randomly generated test results sent to help news organizations ensure their equipment was working properly before election night,” they added.
They emphasized that Pennsylvania law prohibits mail-in ballots from being opened until the morning of Election Day, with votes not being counted until polls close at 8:00 p.m. In addition to their statement, WNEP expressed its regret over the incident, apologized for the confusion and assured viewers that measures were in place to prevent a recurrence.
Read also: “Trump’s first day in office will bring…” Kamala Harris’ terrifying move stuns the Internet
Pennsylvania poll: Harris and Trump tied in a very tight election
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are in a close race in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, where Real Clear Politics data shows Trump leading 0.7%-48.2% to Harris’ 47.5%. However, at the national level, the vice president has a slight edge in polling averages. On November 5, Americans will decide who will succeed President Joe Biden. Back in 2020, Biden narrowly won Pennsylvania, beating Trump by just 80,555 votes, a difference of 1.17% according to the Washington Post.
“The cheating game has begun,” one user posted, accusing ABC of bias. Another commented: “ABC is rigging the Democrats – revoke their license.” A third wrote: “I’ll take a screenshot of this and if the same thing comes up on November 5th we’ll talk.” ABC has faced significant backlash this election season, with critics accusing the network of leaning toward Democratic views, especially during the recent Harris-Trump debate, where some viewers felt the moderators showed Harris undue favoritism.
Pennsylvania’s 19 voting points are really important in the battle to reach the 270 mark needed to win the Electoral College. Presidential Prediction 538 says Pennsylvania will be very close, with Trump expected to win about half the time.
