(Quebec) Radio-Canada and TVA intend to conduct internal audits to understand how they could have erroneously declared Marie-Josée Savard mayoress of Quebec, a mess that led to a premature victory speech and ended with the election of Bruno Marchand.
“We understand that this is an unfortunate situation for Mrs. Marie-Josée Savard and her entourage. And we are sorry, ”reacted Radio-Canada’s news director, Luce Julien, in a statement sent to Press.
Radio-Canada was the first medium to declare Mme Savard winner Sunday evening. It was very early in the evening, around 8:30 p.m., and less than 300 of the 1,502 ballot boxes had been counted. Mme Savard, however, enjoyed a comfortable lead.
TVA quickly followed suit, as did the print media, such as The duty and Press. Note that the written media are largely based on the large television networks which have significant resources devoted to these decisions throughout the evening.
“We are sorry for this situation which is very regrettable. TVA Nouvelles will conduct a review over the next few days, as will other media, ”TVA Nouvelles management said in an email.
Mme Savard then delivered a victory speech in a Quebec room, surrounded by his team. Except that Bruno Marchand has continued to rise thereafter. He finally won by 834 votes late at night.
How did Radio-Canada and TVA get it wrong? What is the method used to declare candidates elected while the count is still taking place? No one from those broadcasters was available for an interview on Monday.
“Our decision-making office followed the usual process rigorously. We will seek the answers to all our questions to explain what may have happened, continues Luce Julien. We will communicate the explanations to the public as soon as we find out about them. ”
TVA claims that Mr.me Savard “had more than 5000 votes in advance”. “As soon as the trend reversed, we corrected the situation. Like all media, we elect candidates based on trends, ”indicates the management of TVA Nouvelles.