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An Illinois television station surprised viewers on Monday by airing election results in the state’s primary one day before it even took place.

A now-viral video showed Illinois news station WCIA air the results of the voting, showing former Vice President Joe Biden winning against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary with “100%” of the precincts reporting.

(Image: Video screenshot)

The moment was captured on video during Monday’s airing of “The Price is Right,” showing Biden defeating Sanders by just over 93,000 votes. The graphic event showed that President Donald Trump beat Roque De La Fuente with over one million votes.

“Today’s date is Monday, the day before the Illinois election,” Sherry Daughtery, who captured the scene on video and posted it later, shared in her commentary.

“While watching The Price is Right our station accidentally runs tomorrow’s election results … its [sic] Monday our election in Illinois is tomorrow,” Daughtery wrote in the Facebook post.

Mark Maxwell, WCIA’s Capitol Bureau Chief, dismissed the incident as nothing more than a “routine test,” according to a statement Daughtery shared on her post, saying the “reporter & employee of WCIA 3 private messaged me along with a friend request.”

“We do routine test rehearsals before every election to make sure the graphics work properly and to give directors some practice,” Maxwell said.

“The error was in putting the dry run on air. That shouldn’t have happened and we’re looking into it. Obviously, we never intended to give the wrong information or wrong impression. None of those numbers were based on any real polling returns,” he added.

“Since your post is being widely shared, I’d appreciate it if you would consider updating the original post so people don’t get the wrong idea,” Maxwell requested.

Despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, polls opened across Chicago Tuesday morning but not without issues as the state saw the closure of restaurants and bars over concerns. Many poll workers complained of a lack of cleaning supplies at polling locations while, in some precincts, Voters report no election judges.

"What’s your conspiracy theory?" she asked.

 
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