(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) An ABC-affiliated network in Pennsylvania mistakenly aired a ticker showing Vice President Kamala Harris as the winner of Keystone State in the 2024 election, just days before the actual vote.
WNEP-TV, also known as ABC 16, displayed the reportedly incorrect election results during its broadcast of the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday, according to the Daily Mail.
The ticker specifically showed Harris winning with 52 percent of the vote to Trump’s 47 percent, a tally of about 3.3 million votes to 3 million. The network even claimed bafflingly that 100 percent of precincts were reported.
ABC 'mistakenly' airs election results sparking wild conspiracy theories https://t.co/bmrNBXgX33 pic.twitter.com/xzg8f5D1SR
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) October 30, 2024
A network spokesperson told the Mail that the ticker had appeared on screen in “error” as part of a test ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
“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,” the spokesperson affirmed.
The premature display sparked mocking reactions on X, with some critics speculating that the error was indicative of potential voter fraud. Clipped videos of the broadcast quickly gathered millions of views.
In response, WNEP reassured viewers that the numbers were not “reflective” of actual vote counts.
“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 spokesperson added.
WNPE said it regretted the error and apologized for the confusion, claiming, “We have taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again.”
The error comes as tensions rise in the Harris-Trump race, which is expected to be one of the closest and most contentious presidential contests in history.
Read some of the online criticism below:
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
ABC accidentally aired election results of Harris winning PA by 5% with 100% in pic.twitter.com/VTJCjH92uh
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 30, 2024
ABC just put up the "Presidential election results on air." THEY DO THIS EVERY SINGLE ELECTION.. They did this in Arizona in the 2022 mid-term and they did it in the 2020 election.. NO WAY IN HELL this is just a mistake everytime. pic.twitter.com/k3V5YRX65E
— aka (@akafacehots) October 30, 2024
Bad actors are trying to run massive psyops against Trump voters to demoralize us. They're going to pull every trick out of the book, and this ABC station accidentally displaying fake results with Kamala winning isn't an exception
But do NOT be turned off. This is part of the… pic.twitter.com/3jD8FSy8xM
— George (@BehizyTweets) October 30, 2024
And just like that, ABC reveals they are part of the cheating by accidentally showing what they called their test election results on live TV.
Kamala wins PA by 5% 😳
Does anyone believe these liars anymore? pic.twitter.com/sZeyjyG00E
— One Bad Dude (@OneBadDude_) October 30, 2024
