Exit Polls

Exit polls are in-person surveys in which data are gathered immediately after people have engaged in the behavior about which they are being surveyed, such as voting in an election. The survey methods that are used in exit polls apply to the measurement of a wide variety of behaviors, but in the minds of most people exit polls are most closely associated with what is done on Election Day to help project the winning candidates before the final vote tally is announced. Although political exit polling is done in many countries, it is the exit polling conducted for elections in the United States that is covered here.