Exit Polls

Written By Jonathan Milner

Definition

An exit poll is a poll of people leaving a polling place, asking how they voted are polls taken immediately after they have exited polling stations. Exit polls are surveys conducted on Election Day outside of polling places in strategic precincts across the country. People are asked not only whom they voted for, but also what issues mattered most to them. All of this data helps news networks project winners. The national exit poll is huge. In 2016, more than 100,000 voters were interviewed either by phone or in person at 1,000 different polling locations across the country. But like any poll, exit polls are a snapshot of the electorate and come with sampling errors. Increasingly, there have been questions about the accuracy of those exit polls, particularly concerns that they overestimate the number of young and college-educated voters. For years, there has been one standard exit poll conducted by Edison Research on behalf of a number of national news organizations.

Example

 
 

Questions

  1. When is an exit poll taken?

  2. Where is an exit poll taken?

  3. What kind of voters are not captured in exit poll data?

  4. What are some challenges in interpreting exit poll data?

  5. What emoji would best represent the concept of exit polls?

Remember!

Now, let’s commit this term to our long-term memory. On a scrap piece of paper, take 10 or 20 seconds to draw exit polls! Draw with symbols or stick figures if you wish. Nothing fancy. Don’t expect a masterpiece. No one else will see this but you. Look at your drawing. That’s all - now it’s downloaded into your memory. Destroy the piece of paper in a most delightful way.

Further Review

GoPo Glossary

Jonathan Milner

Civics Maven!

https://www.gopopro.com/
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