Monday, November 3, 2008

"Human irregularities" undermine exit polls

What a fascinating perspective: exit polls are more accurate than the actual vote count.

I have a completely different perspective. Call it the ego-factor.

Ask anyone what periodicals they read, while you take notes. A good percentage will answer,The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or one of the Lancaster
Newspapers. Hardly any will tell you they regularly read The National Enquirer.

Ask what TV shows they let their children watch, and you will be told PBS shows, not the Saturday morning cartoons, and almost everyone will tell you that they watch PBS as well, even if what they really watch is WWE and reality stuff.

People tell pollsters what they think pollsters want to hear, regardless of how they really voted. It is a secret ballot for a reason. And people vote their gut, but
when asked, you may or may not get a completely truthful response. They do not want to be judged for their choice, they don't want to feel stupid, or uninformed, they do not want to have to defend their choice, so they give the easiest answer, perhaps the least controversial answer.

Polling is notoriously inaccurate. That has nothing to do with election irregularities. It has everything to do with human irregularities.