According to several viral social media posts, a television station in Pennsylvania accidentally posted the state’s presidential vote results more than a week before the 2024 general election.
“A local PA news station did a system ‘test’ for election results this weekend. You’ll never guess what the ‘results’ were,” one X post says. Attached is a screenshot of a broadcast by WNEP 16—an ABC affiliate covering northeastern Pennsylvania—that shows 2024 election results at the bottom of the screen.
The results show Kamala Harris defeating Donald Trump in Pennsylvania with 52 percent of the vote.
“Wasn’t it like Venezuela that did this, too, where they accidentally released some vote totals a few days before the election?” asked one response to the post. “Too big to rig! We can’t let them steal another election,” says another.
The image also spread to Facebook, where users claimed it was proof that Pennsylvania vote totals were being rigged. “So has anyone seen this yet??? WNEP accidentally aired these PA results for the upcoming election!! And you’re going to tell me they don’t cheat??” said one user.
The images are real, but the claim that it demonstrated election fraud in Pennsylvania is false. WNEP said the results were broadcast accidentally as part of a test by the station and did not show real vote totals.
“Test results for the upcoming November 5 general election mistakenly appeared on WNEP-TV early Sunday evening during a broadcast of the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix,” the station said in a Sunday statement. “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.”
Election results from Pennsylvania are likely to be among the latest in the nation. Pennsylvania law prohibits mail-in and absentee ballots from being processed before 7 a.m. on Election Day, and it could take multiple days for some counties to count all of their mail-in votes.
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