Exit polls

An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for newspapers or broadcasters – conduct exit polls to gain an early indication as to how an election has turned out, as in many elections the actual result may take many hours to count.

Quotes

• The forecasting methods used in three different contexts are described:

Predictions of the result before the election takes place using opinion-poll series and other data

Predictions of the result as soon as the polling stations close using exit polls and other techniques

Predictions of the final outcome on election night itself using the subset of actual results declared

• • According to Clive Payne, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK Election Forecasting in the UK (November 28, 2001)