The note from WPTV showed Laurel getting 12,189 votes or 45%. Laurel posted the following comment to her facebook page in response to the erroneous report:
“Election fraud is already taking place here in Palm Beach County! WPTV is posting election results, today, when the race is Tuesday! Please spread the word and contact everyone you know to vote Bennett on Tuesday! I have a snapshot of it! End corruption in Palm Beach! It begins with you, the voter!”
Accordig to Bizpac Review, the station claims they were just “testing their election page” in an effort to “bring you fast and accurate election results on election day.“
“In order to make sure we bring you fast and accurate election results on election day, we are testing our election page ahead of time with test data. On election day, this message will be removed and the actual election results will be displayed on this page.”
Sure, because it’s impossible to “test” an election page without filling in “test” results. We’re sure this “test” wouldn’t have a chilling effect on voters who looked online to discover their candidate had already lost.