Is it true that an American TV channel showed voting results a week before the presidential election?

At the end of October 2024, a fragment of a television broadcast in Pennsylvania circulated on social networks, which allegedly showed the results of the yet-unheld presidential election. Internet users accused Democratic candidate Kamala Harris of rigging the results, who, according to a viral video, will be supported by more than half of voters. We have verified the accuracy of this news.

It was reported that on October 30, a week before the 2024 presidential election, ABC's WNEP, while broadcasting the race live, "Formula 1» showed the voting results in Pennsylvania. From the bar that appeared at the bottom of the screen it followed that in this state, which, according to experts, will be decisive to elect a new American leader, US Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris received 52% of the vote, and her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, 47%. Many English-speaking Internet users accused Democrats in election fraud.

This news also caused a resonance in the Russian-language segment of social networks. Authors of Telegram channels, shared screenshot of the broadcast, wrote: “Vaunted American democracy: the results of the Trump-Harris election are a foregone conclusion” or “It’s clear that someone accidentally posted a pre-prepared result.” Some users also assumedthat the broadcast director specifically showed the election results to demoralize Trump supporters. Total similar posts on Telegram at the time of writing this analysis received more than 650,000 views. The news also appeared in some Russian Media And blogOh. And users of the social network “VKontakte” claimedthat US Marines even arrested the Democratic Party operative and WNEP television executive who created the graphic, accusing them of treason, election interference and intentionally spreading enemy propaganda.

Pennsylvania is the most important "wavering» US state, which has become a key arena in the struggle for the presidency. Since the end of the 20th century, its inhabitants have consistently voted for the Democrats, but in 2016 Trump won there with a minimal margin and eventually became the president of the country. The state was once again a close race in 2020, with its won Joe Biden - and also took the White House. As I wrote Bloomberg, the Harris and Trump campaigns have focused the most attention and resources on Pennsylvania. Republican candidate several times accused opponents in preparing falsifications in this particular state.

It didn't work out without such statements from the Trumpists and at the end of October - after an incident with the broadcast of WNEP, an ABC affiliate in Pennsylvania. During the live broadcast of Formula 1, presumably the results of the 2024 presidential election, which were supposed to take place only a week after this broadcast, appeared in a ticker at the bottom of the screen. According to the on-screen numbers, Harris won Pennsylvania with 52%, while Trump won just 47% of the state's votes. Formula 1 viewers managed to film this broadcast on video and post evidence of the existence of prepared results on social networks.

WNEP, whose logo is visible on the ticker, actually broadcast Formula 1 stage in Mexico on October 27, 2024 and showed a graphic dedicated to the results of the presidential election. However, as representatives of this media outlet later confirmed, its employees were testing equipment in anticipation of the approaching voting day, and the data was fictitious and should not have been broadcast. Later that evening, WNEP published statement, in which he apologized for the mistake: “Test results for coverage of the upcoming elections on November 5 appeared on WNEP-TV during the broadcast of the Formula 1 Grand Prix by mistake. These numbers should not have been on the screen, it was WNEP's mistake. These were randomly generated tests that were sent to media outlets to help them check if their equipment was working ahead of election night. These numbers did not reflect the actual number of votes. Under Pennsylvania law, mail-in ballots cannot be removed from their envelopes until 7:00 a.m. on Election Day and votes cannot be counted until polls close at 8:00 p.m. WNEP regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion this may have caused. We have taken measures to prevent similar incidents in the future."

However, this statement did not stop Internet users from spreading conspiracy theories about prepared falsifications. Three days later, social network user X with the nickname Boca Vista wrote: “Dear ABC, explain this! How do you know the election results in Pennsylvania before the election itself? How do you know the exact number of votes? You know you're going to jail for cheating as soon as Trump wins, right?" On the same day, the news appeared on RuNet. Telegram channel «News from around the world» published a summary of an article from a British tabloid Daily Mail, which was one of the first to report an error from an American TV channel. And the next day the channel “Evil proof”(230,000 views) has already directly stated about the fraud: “It’s clear that someone accidentally posted a pre-prepared result.”

The authors of such conclusions were not confused by the fact that, in addition to the number of votes for Harris and Trump, the video also showed the “results” of the upcoming elections to the US Congress, which are also scheduled for November 5. Incumbent Pennsylvania senator, Democrat Bob Casey, and his GOP challenger, Dave McCormick, received 53% and 45%, respectively, according to a viral video. At the same time, it was McCormick, despite less support from voters, who was declared the winner of the race (there is a check mark next to his name, similar to the mark next to the surname Harris). This detail also indicates that the numbers were randomly generated and were unlikely to be intended to predict the outcome or be an attempt to influence voter opinion.

Thus, although the viral video and its screenshot are genuine, most of the Internet users who distributed them kept silent about WNEP-TV's statement. In it, representatives of the TV channel clarified: the election results from the ticker were generated randomly in order to test the equipment on the eve of the night after the elections, and were broadcast accidentally - during the check of the media’s readiness for that broadcast. Whatever the truth, the omission of this detail deprives readers of important context and reinforces the narrative of manipulation allegedly behind the US Democratic Party.

Cover photo: screenshot of a viral video

Taken out of context

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on topic:

1. Poynter. ABC News affiliate WNEP-TV in Pennsylvania accidentally aired test election results. It's not cheating
2. Deutsche Welle. The outcome of the US presidential election will be determined by swing states
3. "BBC Russian Service". In the US, on the eve of the elections, social networks are filled with accusations of fraud.
4. Is it true that early voting machines in the US are preventing candidates other than Kamala Harris from being selected?
5. Defocus What fakes about Trump are being spread in the USA (and why haven’t you seen them in Russian)