On Election Day, as votes are counted and news organizations await results and race predictions, exit polls are an important tool to get an early look at who voted and what motivated their choices.
An exit poll is a survey of voters when they leave (or leave) the polling station. It is the only national survey of voters known in the country. It allows news organizations, researchers and voters to understand what happened in an election once the results are in.
Here’s how exit polls work, where they’re held, and how NBC News will use exit poll results on election night and beyond.
Who conducts the exit poll?
Since 2003, Edison Research, a firm specializing in the collection of election data, has conducted exit polls on behalf of the National Constituency. NEP is a consortium of media networks – ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC News – pooling resources for a collective vote counting and exit poll operation. NBC News independently analyzes and reports exit poll results.
Read more election explanations from the NBC News Decision Desk
What questions are asked?
Exit polls ask voters which candidates they support in presidential and other races. But usually a number of other attitude and issue-based questions are included, such as: “What is the most important issue you will vote on?” Another key component of an exit poll is asking about voter demographics such as age, gender, race, and education. These types of questions help show how different groups vote and what is important to them, and they are also used to evaluate exit polls, that is, to make sure that exit polls accurately reflect the demographic makeup of voters as well as the election.
Members of each news organization in the NEP jointly determine which states to conduct exit polls (in addition to the national exit poll) and work together to decide which questions are included in the national and state polls. Exit polls include about 25 questions and take about 5 minutes to complete.
How is the exit poll conducted?
Exit polls are then conducted by random sampling of precincts across the country and in states with their own exit polls (more on that later). At least one interviewer is assigned to each polling station on voting day. This year, interviewers will be stationed at 600 polling stations across the country, and each will follow local rules about where they can stand at the polling station. The interview is self-administered, that is, the respondent fills out the questionnaire himself. Interviewers then call in their results throughout the day and the results are reported to news organizations.
What about state exit polls?
In addition to national exit polls that capture voters across the country, there are exit polls for states that are particularly important to winning the presidency or that cover important down-ballot races such as the Senate or governor. This year, NBC News will cover exit polls in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. Exit polls will be held in 40 polling stations in each state.
How do exit polls show the growing percentage of people voting early or by mail?
Exit polls supplement Election Day in-person interviews by contacting early voters through a telephone survey of people on voter rolls in all 50 states, as well as by collecting interviews during early in-person voting periods.
This year, the exit poll is conducting early in-person polling interviews in Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio. All voters are asked the same questions regardless of whether they vote early or on Election Day in a given state.
Is the exit poll anonymous?
Yes. In-person voters are given paper and pen to fill out a paper survey and answer anonymously. When they are done, they put the folded questionnaires in a box like a ballot paper. In telephone interviews, no personal information about the interviewed voter is stored.
How many people are interviewed?
The national exit poll will involve a total of nearly 20,000 interviews on election day, in person during early voting and by telephone to capture other early voters, including those who vote by mail. Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin will each have sample sizes of 1,500 to 2,500 respondents per state for the exit poll.
How do we use exit-poll?
The NBC News Decision Desk uses some exit poll data to help draft election results. However, exit polls are primarily used as an election night reporting tool.
The data allows viewers and readers to learn what issues motivate voters, how they feel about the country, and who they are. It’s the nation’s first look at what voters look like and how voters feel about the election, the candidates and their choices.
What information do news organizations report and when?
NEP participants do not report any exit poll results before 5:00 p.m. ET on Election Day, and no exit poll results showing the outcome of a race are reported until after all polls in a state are scheduled to close. As election night continues and interviewers on the ground call in more exit poll results, the data is updated and remeasured in real time.