On Sunday, Pennsylvania’s local ABC News affiliate WNEP mistakenly aired simulated “test results” for the November 5 election during live coverage of a Formula 1 race. The station immediately apologized and clarified that the displayed figures were not real.
The broadcast showed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris leading GOP candidate Donald Trump with 3,293,712 votes (52 percent) compared to Trump’s 2,997,793 votes (47 percent).
The test results also included figures for Pennsylvania’s Senate race, with Democratic incumbent Bob Casey Jr. receiving 2,295,980 votes, while Republican candidate Dave McCormick had 1,970,449 votes.
WNEP explained that these numbers were “randomly generated test results” designed to ensure that news systems function correctly on election night.
“Those numbers should not have appeared on the screen, and it was an error by WNEP that they did,” the station stated in its apology.
Emphasizing that the figures were not tied to any real vote counts or projections, WNEP noted that Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballots cannot even be opened until Election Day morning at 7 a.m., and vote counting does not begin until 8 p.m. on that day.
“WNEP regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion. We have taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again,” the station said, addressing any public misunderstanding.
Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the 2024 election, is tightly contested.
RealClearPolitics polling averages showed Trump with a slight lead in the state as of Wednesday, less than one percentage point ahead.
The incident has drawn additional attention due to the state’s critical role in national elections, as both parties are focused on Pennsylvania’s outcome.
While WNEP’s mishap quickly became a topic of discussion, it underscores the importance of accuracy and transparency in election coverage, especially in high-stakes battlegrounds like Pennsylvania.
