What the Exit Poll Found as Voters Left Polling Places on Election Day
An exit poll desk stood at the entrance to a polling place in Marple Township, Delaware County. While voting was under way, voters who had finished casting their ballots were surveyed at set times in the morning and afternoon.
On a table covered with an American flag cloth sat questionnaires and pens, along with a box carrying the logos of news organizations. Signs said the survey took two minutes, was anonymous, and had been “Understanding American Voters Since 1972.”
An Exit Poll Is Not a Vote Count
An exit poll is a survey of voters leaving a polling place. It is not a vote count and does not replace the count. Interviewers select voters at random and ask them to answer a short survey, and the answers are anonymous. The results show what voters were thinking, not who won.
The survey is the AP Voter Poll and the CNN Voter Poll, conducted by SSRS for the Associated Press and a consortium of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MS NOW and NBC. It surveyed about 100,000 people from October 19 to November 3, combining early voters and in-person interviews at polling places in 15 states. The results released so far are preliminary, with weighting to the final results not yet finished. The Associated Press does not call a race on the poll alone.
The Economy Was the Top Issue
The economy was the issue voters named most often. The economy led at 39 percent, followed by the state of democracy at 32 percent, immigration at 14 percent, health care at 8 percent, foreign policy at 4 percent and crime at 3 percent.
About 75 percent said they felt angry or dissatisfied with the direction of the country. President Donald Trump’s job approval stood at 38 percent approve and 62 percent disapprove. Sixty-five percent said the economy had gotten worse, and 62 percent said Trump bore responsibility for high prices. Nearly 9 in 10 said the cost of living was a decisive or major factor in their vote.
Seventy-one percent said Congress should do more to check the president. Forty-three percent said they voted to express opposition to Trump, 16 percent to express support, and 41 percent said Trump was not a factor in their vote.
Favorability stood at 46 percent for Democrats and 41 percent for Republicans. On trust to handle the economy, Democrats held a narrow edge, CNN reported.
Some things remained unconfirmed. Detailed results by race, age and gender had not been released from firsthand sources. Figures about Latino voters circulating in secondhand reports could not be verified directly and were left out of this article. Counting was still in its early stages, and official results become final only after each state and county canvasses and certifies the vote.