An ABC News station in Pennsylvania caused conspiracy theories to swirl this week after accidentally airing graphics with the results of the 2024 election graphics that showed Vice President Kamala Harris winning the state – a week before actual voting begins.
WNEP-TV, serving northern Pennsylvania, displayed results during Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix coverage showing Harris with 52% of votes to Donald Trump’s 47%, with 100% of precincts reporting.
“Those numbers should not have appeared on the screen, and it was an error by WNEP that they did,” the station told The Daily Mail. “The numbers seen on the screen were randomly generated test results sent out to help news organizations make sure their equipment is working properly in advance of election night.”
“Pennsylvania law does not allow mail-in ballots to be taken out of their envelopes until 7:00 a.m. on Election Day, and no votes of any kind will be counted in Pennsylvania until after the polls close at 8:00 p.m.,” the station claimed.
Similar incidents have occurred in previous elections. During the 2020 presidential race, networks faced scrutiny over early state calls, and in 2000, networks had to reverse their premature Florida projection for Al Gore.
“The stakes are very high… there is tremendous pressure to capture viewers by giving them information as quickly as it is available, but the greatest risk is sacrificing accuracy for speed,” said Costas Panagopoulos, political science professor at Northeastern University.
Social media users were confused, and questioned whether the results were predetermined — and the mistake a hint at something far more sinister.
“ABC is cheating for the Democrat machine. Their license should be revoked,” wrote a Twitter user.
“If the same graphics pop up after November 5th, with the same percentages & the same vote count, it’ll be EXTREMELY suspicious. And the media wonders why nobody trusts them?” another said.
Take a look for yourself —
WNEP Scranton "mistakenly" showed the Pennsylvania results for the 2024 election.
The ABC News affiliate called it a "test" run.
You'll never guess who they showed winning pic.twitter.com/VFL6ojIy7j
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) October 30, 2024
Current RealClearPolitics polling shows Trump leading Harris by 0.7% in Pennsylvania (48.2% to 47.5%). The state’s 19 electoral votes are considered crucial for reaching the required 270 electoral votes.
WNEP-TV said it “regrets the error” and has “taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again.”