A few days before Election Day, an ABC News station incorrectly declared that Kamala Harris had won the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

WNEP-TV, an ABC affiliate in Scranton, Pennsylvania, reported that Ms. Harris won 52 percent of the vote during a Formula One race on Sunday, to Donald Trump's 47 percent.

The broadcaster said the message was broadcast in error when its equipment was being tested before Election Day, but the error has fueled conspiracy theories that the election was being rigged.

The “result” appeared on television screens on Sunday during the Mexico City Grand Prix and showed that Ms. Harris had received 3,293,712 votes to Trump's 2,997,793, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

If this happens again on November 5th, the election of the vice president could be sealed. Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes of any swing state and has been won by every winning presidential candidate since 2008.

WNEP-TV said the results were “randomly generated” in a test before Election Day and appeared on the screen “in error.”

“These numbers should not have appeared on screen and it was a mistake on WNEP’s part that they did so,” it said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

“The numbers shown on the screen were randomly generated test results sent out to help news organizations ensure their equipment is working properly before election night.”

Sorry for any confusion

The broadcaster continued: “The numbers did not reflect the actual number of votes. Pennsylvania law does not allow mail-in ballots to be removed from their envelopes before 7 a.m. on Election Day, and no votes of any kind are counted in Pennsylvania until polls close at 8 p.m.

“WNEP regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion. We have taken measures to ensure this does not happen again.”

Pennsylvania has already become the hotbed of unproven claims of voter fraud ahead of Election Day.

Trump claimed this week that officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, found thousands of ballots “all written by the same person.”

In fact, authorities said they were reviewing two batches of voter registration documents because some applications showed possible signs of fraud, but did not say how many of them were considered fraudulent.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election won by Joe Biden was “rigged” against him. Dozens of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and other groups failed to prove the case after Election Day.

Polls have consistently given Trump a slim lead in Pennsylvania since 2008, with the RealClearPolitics average putting the Republican ahead by 0.8 percent.

In the 2020 election, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by just 80,555 votes, or 1.17 percent, a result so close that it was not announced until four days after the election.