In a shocking turn of events, CBC journalist Rosemary Barton revealed — on live television — that the CBC and Elections Canada have advanced knowledge of poll results before polls are even closed.
Addressing a slip up behind the scenes, Barton suddenly stopped covering the election to address a mistake on screen. This mistake showed that more seats had been determined than polls that were even closed.
WATCH: How on earth did Elections Canada know the results of a riding before the polls were even closed? pic.twitter.com/2wJH4Fx5AK
— Keean Bexte (@TheRealKeean) September 21, 2021
“What [the CBC’s been told] is that Elections Canada mistakenly input some data before polls closed in a different part of the country — polls close at 9:30 Eastern from Quebec to Alberta,” Barton began, addressing the Conservatives sitting at nine seats.
But wait. How on earth did Elections Canada know the results of a riding before the polls were even closed?
“We’re not going to tell you where because the polls are, uh, still open, and we don’t want that to influence anything about your vote because it’s very, very early,” Barton continued, cracking a smile.
However, Barton was forced to make yet another correction. The Conservatives were not given an extra seat before polls were closed; but the Liberals were, and rose from 23 to 24 — again, before anyone could possibly know the poll results.
“It’s in the Liberal numbers, sorry. It’s in the Liberal numbers. Uhm, it’s [a] very early result —”
“Those Liberal numbers are up one. But again, those are early results that we actually shouldn’t have at this stage,” Barton admitted, audibly chuckling.
“So we’re not going to tell you where that’s happening,” she continued.
“But the Liberals are actually at 23 with polls closed in Atlantic Canada, the Conservatives leading [at] 9, and the Bloc on the board with that one riding and that is closed in Quebec, just to keep everything straight in our heads,” she finished before pivoting into an interview.
