Election Polling

the exclusive providers of exit poll data

Edison Research began exit polling in 1996, and since 2003 we have provided election projections and analysis for the news organizations that comprise the National Election Pool (NEP). We’re currently preparing to conduct exit polls for the 2020 election, and will provide vote results for every county in the country on behalf of the NEP. The NEP effort is the only national exit poll.

The national exit polls are perhaps the largest, most logistically challenging research projects in the world. We task thousands of interviewers on one single day to administer and report hundreds of thousands of interviews and then deliver the data in real time.

When you hear election projections, results or analysis about who voted for whom, that information comes from Edison Research.

election polling services

Explore some of our election polling services listed below. We’re confident that you’ll like what you see. And when you have pressing questions of your own, just ask us.

exit polls

The National Election Pool’s exclusive provider of election exit poll data

Edison Research is the exclusive provider of election exit polls to the National Election Pool consisting of ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC. We’re currently preparing to conduct exit polls for the 2018 midterm elections, and will provide vote results for every county in the country on behalf of the NEP.

Exit poll data is one of the key methods of understanding the results of an election. Exit polls tell us:

WHO voted for each candidate
WHY voters in your area made critical choices
WHERE geographical differences on candidates and issues were a factor.

For the 2016 General Election, Edison conducted exit polls for a total of 103 races, including many key congressional and gubernatorial races. Our 2016 voter surveys provided political, demographic and geographic information detailing voter preferences for President. In addition to the 2016 General Election, we also covered a number of primaries and caucuses, listed here.

For more information on the NEP election exit polls or county vote results, contact us.

Edison also provides this data to many international, national and local news outlets to enhance their election coverage. Clients include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Boston Globe, the Detroit Free Press, the Denver Post, the Miami Herald, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Newsday, the Sacramento Bee, the Star Ledger, the St. Louis Post, the St. Petersburg Times, NY1 News and National Public Radio. International subscribers include Sky News, ZDF Germany, WDR, and more.

Edison Research is proud to be the exclusive provider of this important information to news organizations around the country and around the world.

international exit polls

we are the global leader.

Edison Research has conducted political exit polls in countries such as Azerbaijan, Taiwan, The Republic of Georgia, Venezuela and Iraq. We work with both international media and civic organizations to provide election analysis and deliver a mechanism to help validate the propriety of election results.

Edison Research began exit polling in 1996. Since 2003, we have provided election projections and analysis for the news organizations that comprise the National Election Pool (NEP). The NEP is currently comprised of ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC. We are uniquely qualified to conduct exit polling worldwide, whether in a consulting capacity or managing and organizing exit polls from start to finish.

Edison provides market and survey research worldwide to clients in Abu Dhabi, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dubai, Egypt, England, Finland, Republic of Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iraq, Republic of Ireland, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Ukraine and Wales.

For more information, call or email Joe Lenski or Rob Farbman.

exit poll data subscription

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What We Do:

Edison conducts exit polls just minutes after voters leave their polling places. The survey results are the best tools available to help understand the motivations and patterns behind the vote.

Exit poll data is available for purchase by TV stations, newspapers, Internet sites and other news outlets. Subscriptions to our surveys greatly enhance Election Night coverage for your audience, branding your company as a primary source for the most thorough coverage.

It is our goal to make data available to subscribers with speed, clarity and, most importantly, accuracy. The information is delivered through a secure web application on Election Day.

What You Get:

Statewide crosstab reports, beginning in the late afternoon and updated throughout election night

Detailed demographics, including age, gender, income, education, employment, and other key factors

Voter responses to current issue and candidate quality questions

Printer-friendly PDF of exit poll results

Horizontal and vertical crosstab format views of data

Live chat via telephone or messenger system with your subscriber contact

Projected results at poll closing for races with clear outcomes

For races without clear outcomes, communication is provided throughout election night and notification when a projection will be made

Price:

Subscriptions for local, regional, national and international media outlets are available. Data can be purchased at the statewide, regional and national level. Subscription prices vary by type of media outlet and by size of state and media market.

national exit polling FAQs

frequently asked questions

What is the National Election Pool (NEP)?
The National Election Pool is a consortium of news networks that was formed in 2003 in order to provide information on election night about the vote count, election analysis, and election projections. NEP contracts with Edison Research to make projections and provide exit poll analysis and a tabulation of the vote throughout the country. The National Election Pool is currently comprised of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and NBC News.

What does Edison Research provide to the NEP?
Edison Research conducts statewide exit polls throughout the country as well as a national survey. In addition, Edison collects the vote count in a sample of precincts in each state. Edison provides exit poll analysis and projections for President, U.S. Senate, Governor as well as selected U.S. House, state referenda and initiatives.

What is an exit poll?
Exit polls are interviews with voters after they have cast their votes at their polling places. A sample of precincts is scientifically selected to collectively represent a state or, for the national exit poll, the nation. An interviewer gives every nth voter exiting the polling place a questionnaire to complete. There are questions about demographics such as gender, age, race and issues related to the person’s vote choice in different contests. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. The interviewing starts when the polls open and continues throughout the day until about an hour before the polls close.

Who decides what questions to ask on the exit poll?
All questions asked on state and national questionnaires are prepared by the four members of the National Election Pool.

How many polling places will be in your sample?
Sample sizes vary from state to state.

How do you select sample precincts?
Precincts are selected as a stratified probability sample of each state. The purpose of stratification is to group together precincts with similar vote characteristics. A recent past election is used to identify all precincts as they existed for that election. The total vote in each precinct and the partisan division of the vote from this past race are used for the stratification. In addition, counties are used for stratifying the precincts. The total vote also is used to determine the probability of selection. Each voter in a state has approximately the same chance of being selected in the sample.

Who makes projections of the winning candidates?
Projections are made by Edison and transmitted to each of the NEP members and subscribing news organizations. Each of the members has its own analysts who review the Exit Poll results and the tabulated data as it is collected. Each news organization makes its own decision about what to report to the public. All decisions are made after careful review by the analysts and are not automatic decisions made by a computer.

How are projections of winners made?
Projections of a winning candidate are based on models that use votes from three different sources:

Exit poll interviews with voters
Vote returns as reported by election officials from the sample precincts
Tabulations of votes by county

The models make estimates from all these vote reports. The models also indicate the likely error in the estimates. The best model estimate may be used to make a projection if it passes a series of tests.

When will projections be made?
Projections of a winning candidate are only made after all the polls in a state are closed and when the best model estimates show a clear winner. There will be no projections before the last polls in a state are closed.

How do absentee votes affect projections?
In a number of states, significant numbers of voters cast their ballots before Election Day. Either they cast an absentee ballot or they vote at voting locations set up for voters in the weeks leading up to the election. A sample of absentee/early voters is interviewed by telephone shortly before the election. Edison combines the results of these absentee/early voters’ interviews with the Election Day interviews in the survey results reported by the NEP.

What is the margin of error for an exit poll?
Exit polls are surveys. As in all surveys, there is a margin of error due to sampling. The margin of error for a 95% confidence interval is about +/- 3% for a typical characteristic from the national exit poll and +/-4% for a typical state exit poll. Characteristics that are more concentrated in a few polling places, such as race, have larger sampling errors. Other non-sampling factors may increase the total error.

How many people does it take to conduct the Exit Polls and collect the vote at the Edison Research sample precincts?
For a national election, almost 3,000 people are required to do the job at Edison. This includes exit poll interviewers, telephone operators to take their calls at election headquarters, reporters at the sample precincts to get the vote, developers to program the computers, systems specialists, election researchers, technical support at all sites, analysts reviewing the computations, support staff to manage the exit polls and management of the project.

How can I have confidence in a race that you call?
Since Edison Research began conducting exit polls for the National Election Pool in 2003, the news organizations using the Edison data have not made a single mistake in deciding a winner in any race. We use a high standard of care in making sure that the information and analysis that we provide news organizations is accurate. All surveys, including exit polls have a sampling error and Edison Research makes certain to take that into account before advising news organizations of the winner in any race.

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