Pennsylvania ABC Affiliate Apologizes for Airing Mistaken "Election Results" in Test Broadcast

WNEP-TV's Accidental Display of Randomly Generated Election Data Sparks Online Controversy and Highlights Growing Concerns About Election Integrity

A Pennsylvania ABC affiliate station, WNEP-TV, issued a public apology this week after mistakenly displaying "test results" for the Nov. 5 presidential election during a Sunday evening broadcast. The incident occurred during WNEP’s airing of the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix, and the station emphasized that the displayed numbers were randomly generated and not indicative of any actual vote count. The numbers reportedly showed Vice President Kamala Harris winning over former President Donald Trump, with totals of 3.2 million and 2.9 million ballots, respectively, at "100 percent reporting."

According to WNEP-TV, these numbers were part of a routine system test. The station explained in an online statement that such “test results” are commonly used to check equipment in preparation for election night and that these were inadvertently broadcast during the Grand Prix coverage. WNEP expressed regret over the incident, apologizing for any confusion it may have caused viewers, and stated that it had since implemented steps to prevent a recurrence.