LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s Secretary of State’s Office said partial election results from nine counties were inadvertently accessible to a small number of media outlets for less than an hour after a secure results website remained linked to a testing environment.

In a statement, the office said it uploads data to a secure test system to ensure results are accurate and ready to be released as soon as state law allows. The office said some outlets are granted access to a closed website so they can provide results to the public once polls close.

The office said the issue happened when the secure website stayed connected to the test environment, where partial results had been uploaded. After the problem was identified, access to the data was disabled, according to the statement.

The Secretary of State’s Office emphasized the information “was never published on the election night results page for the public to view.”

Officials said they are addressing the issue internally and have communicated with the governor and attorney general. The office said it will continue improving election security and the efficiency of election processes, while remaining focused on timely results and ballot secrecy.