TV Station Accidentally Airs Election Results During 'The Bachelorette'

Detroit fans of The Bachelorette got an unexpected — and likely puzzling — surprise Tuesday night (October 27).

Those watching on WXYZ, Detroit’s ABC affiliate, ended up seeing accidentally-posted 2020 election results while the station prepped systems for next week’s Election Day.

The onscreen graphic showed that President Donald Trump pulled ahead of Democratic challenger Joe Biden — 50% versus 44%, with all precincts reporting — although current polls show Biden ahead of Trump, the Detroit Free Press noted. It also showed hypothetical results of other races, including that John James ousted Sen. Gary Peters and Incumbent U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin keeping her seat from Paul Junge.

“Last night, during the Bachelorette, WXYZ inadvertently aired an election result graphic as part of our testing of the systems we will use during election night coverage,” the station said in a statement Wednesday morning (October 28). “The results displayed — the presidential race, the senate race and a number of congressional races to name a few, were part of a test and NOT actual results. In Michigan, no ballots are counted before election day.”

“The results displayed were randomly generated by the system we use for testing,” WXYZ's statement explained. “We apologize for the error and any confusion it caused. We take this matter very seriously and have taken steps to ensure this will not happen again.”

The blunder led to confused Twitter users, conspiracy allegations and even playful banter between the local media outlets.

“The error was almost as riveting as Yosef (Aborady) confronting Clare (Crawley) about that strip dodgeball game where she encouraged the bachelors to take their clothes off,” Free Press Reporter Julie Hinds wrote. “Almost.”

The Free Press added in a tweet to its local news competitor “if you need a beer, we gotchu."

Michigan residents can still register to vote through November 3, and can request absentee ballots through November 2. Residents can find more information, including where their local clerk’s office is located, on the Department of State’s Voter Information Center. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is advising the millions of absentee voters in Michigan to drop off ballots in person rather than drop them in mailboxes at this point, avoiding any potential postal delays.

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