The Cincinnati Enquirer earlier today posted fake data on its website showing Mitt Romney with a 92,000-vote lead in a supposed early vote count in Ohio. Editors later posted an apology, explaining that the election-results chart was created as a template and was inadvertently posted early.
The Enquirer explained the error: “A Cincinnati.com front-page link to a chart with dummy data, created as a design template for election results, was inadvertently posted early Tuesday morning. It purported to show early voting totals in Ohio counties. However, no votes have been counted yet — by law counting doesn’t start until the polls close. Cincinnati.com regrets the error.”
The correction came a bit too late, however. Conservative-leaning Drudge Report had already tweeted the false results before the apology was published, and journalism blogger Jim Romenesko called The Enquirer out on it.
Providing voting results before polls close is typically frowned upon in media circles to avoid discouraging voters with potentially disappointing numbers.
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2012.