What you need to know about the Election Day Voter Poll

Anyone who has watched Election Day coverage in the past has probably heard anchors or analysts refer to the exit polls. For this year’s hotly contested election, ABC News will be using a new poll called the Voter Poll to help answer the critical questions of who won and why. The Voter Poll will also help explain what issues were important in the election and how important demographic groups voted.

The Voter Poll, conducted by SSRS, will provide much more data than before. This year there will be a Voter Poll in every state that has a Senate or governor's race, 45 in all. There will also be a National Voter Poll covering all states which will have a much larger sample size than in previous years. But what is the Voter Poll and how will it work?

How is the Voter Poll conducted?

The Voter Poll starts by contacting likely voters just before Election Day using multiple methods, including online, mailed postcards, text message, email and phone calls. Pre-election respondents who have not voted at the time of their initial response are recontacted starting at 5 p.m. local time the day before Election Day through poll closing time in each state on Election Day. These recontacts confirm if the person has voted and by what method they voted along with their final vote choices.

In addition, traditional exit polls are also being conducted in a number of states, and these data will also be included in the Voter Poll. Exit polls are surveys conducted as voters leave their polling places on Election Day. Interviewers stand outside polling places at randomly selected precincts in the state and approach voters at specific intervals as they exit, for example every fifth or ninth voter. Voters who agree to participate fill out a short, confidential questionnaire and place it in a ballot box.

The data from all of these methods of voter contact are then combined and appropriately weighted to provide a complete picture of all voters no matter when or how they voted.

What sort of questions are asked in the Voter Poll?

The Voter Poll questionnaire asks who people voted for, their demographics, opinions about the candidates and opinions on important issues such as the economy, foreign policy, healthcare, immigration, crime and education. Here's an example of a previous issue question, from 2024:

Do you think the condition of the nation's economy is:

1. Excellent

2. Good

Popular Reads

3. Not so good

4. Poor

Are Voter Polls accurate?

The Voter Poll, like any other survey, is subject to sampling and nonsampling error. Before news organizations report Voter Poll results or make projections, they conduct in-depth quality control checks. They compare results to pre-election polls and the voting history in the state and have statisticians and political experts carefully review the data.

After the polls close, Voter Poll results are weighted using the actual vote to make the data more accurate. Voter Polls may be used to project the winners of races where the margin between the candidates is large. But most election projections are made after the polls close based on actual vote data.

When will Voter Poll results be reported?

On Election Day there is a strict embargo on any data coming from the early waves of the Voter Poll until 5 p.m. ET. By about 5:45 p.m. ET, some initial demographic information about voters and their views on key issues in the election will be available on ABCNews.com. After the polls close in a state, the complete Voter Poll crosstabs (which are data tables showing how a variety of subgroups have voted) will be posted on ABCNews.com.

ABC News will not project a winner until the last scheduled poll closing time in each state. If a race is not projected at poll closing time, the projection will incorporate actual vote data and will be made as soon as the data warrant. Information will be constantly updated throughout the evening on ABCNews.com and on all ABC News programs.

Dan Merkle is Executive Director of Polling, Elections, and Data Analytics at ABC News.