Pa. station proclaims Harris winner in system test

During live coverage of a Formula 1 race Oct. 30, 2024, WNEP in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, inadvertently aired a graphic seeming to proclaim that Vice President Kamala Harris won the state’s electoral votes well before the election was even held.

According to sources, the graphic aired as part of a test of the Tegna station’s graphics systems ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024, election night coverage but was obviously not meant to air.

The post gained attention on X, formerly known as Twitter, with a user going by the name “Boca Vista,” who seemed to imply that the station was actually proclaiming a Harris win, despite it being a week before the election. 

“How do you know ELECTION RESULTS for Pennsylvania BEFORE the election?? How do you know the EXACT number of votes?You do know YOU will be imprisoned for CHEATING when Trump wins don’t you?” the poster wrote (sic throughout).

The original post does not appear to have gained much traction, with only 855 viewers according to X analytics, as of this writing, but copies of it have popped up on other platforms.

While the station’s gaffe certainly was embarrassing and not best practice, it’s not exactly the first time something like this has happened. Given that it aired a week before the election, it would also seem fairly obvious that the graphic was an error.

The X post pointed the blame at the ABC network, not WNEP (a distinction that apparently escaped Boca Vista) and also pushed into the boundaries of targeting the media for manipulating election results with a threat.

There is no evidence that WNEP’s numbers were accurate, that it has somehow gained early access to some results or that it even officially proclaimed Harris the winner. There is also no evidence that it was “cheating” — much less that “you” (meaning the network?) would be “imprisoned” under any current law, thought Donald Trump has threatened various legal actions with people he disagrees with.

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It’s also worth noting that Boca Vista doesn’t take issue with his or her declaring Donald Trump the apparent winner (which is not true as of this writing) shortly after the errant graphic aired but still well before the election.