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Articles on Polls

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Leadership and likability questions help pollsters predict who might win. Osaka Wayne Studios/Moment via Getty Images

Polls have value, even when they are wrong

Data gleaned from even early polls reveals critical clues on how voters view candidates and issues.
Voters in the midterm elections decided that the GOP would run the House, while the Democrats would run the Senate. Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

Midterm election results reflect the hodgepodge of US voters, not the endorsement or repudiation of a candidate’s or party’s agenda

Lots has been said about the 2022 US midterm elections. But a scholar of democracy says there’s really only one conclusion that can be made about how voters behaved.
A prominent GOP poll said Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire would lose her re-election bid to a Republican. Hassan won by 9 percentage points. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Some midterm polls were on-target – but finding which pollsters and poll aggregators to believe can be challenging

Polling for the 2022 midterms was more accurate than the dramatically wrong predictions of 2016 and 2020, leading one pollster to boast, ‘The death of polling has been greatly exaggerated.’
Arizona Secretary of State GOP candidate Mark Finchem, who has denied the 2020 election results and was present at the U.S. Capitol insurrection. AP Photo/Matt York

The important role played by secretaries of state in administering fair elections is changing – and not in a good way

What happens if the public loses faith in fair elections? That’s the question being asked as candidates influenced by Donald Trump aim to become the chief election officials in their states.

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