GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Clerks in Kent and Ottawa County issued a joint statement on Monday after WWMT and WOOD accidentally published election data for a test run before the August 2 primary election.

Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons and Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck said that no one from their offices were involved in the tests that resulted in the test data that appeared online. They said their offices were inundated with calls from concerned voters.

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“Our teams have received calls and messages this morning concerning election results data that has been posted on local media sites,” the statement reads. “We want to be very clear that results posted on these sites were not provided by official election administrators, nor were our offices involved in any way.”

News directors at both WWMT and WOOD addressed the error. WOOD issued a statement saying they are committed to accuracy and transparency. WWMT addressed the mistake on its Twitter page.

 

Most news stations and outlets conduct test runs of graphics and data leading up to election days. Michigan News Source is doing the same. It’s part of the election night process that helps production run more smoothly.