Everything you wanted to know about 2006 exit polling

[TexasLawyer]

and then some. The Pew interview (last link) is required reading for election junkies!

Will Exit Polls Win On Election Night?

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2006

(CBS) It may seem unlikely, but on Tuesday the offices above an East Coast antique store will be the epicenter of American politics.



Joe Lenski will know the election's results before almost anybody, reports CBS News correspondent Russ Mitchell. His company, Edison Media Research, gathers the exit poll information used by a consortium of TV networks and the Associated Press to help quickly determine who won and why.

"We will be at 1000 polling locations and we will interview more than 100,000 people," Lenski tells Mitchell. The process begins with surveys conducted outside polling places.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/05/politics/main2154106.shtml

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http://www.edisonresearch.com/aboutus/joe_lenski.php
Joe Lenski
Executive Vice President

Joe Lenski is co-founder and Executive Vice President of Edison Media Research. Since founding Edison Media Research in 1994, he has overseen the consistent and rapid growth of the company. With Edison Media Research, Lenski oversees hundreds of research projects each year for some of the world’s largest media companies, conducting survey research and providing strategic information to radio stations, television stations, newspapers, cable networks, record labels, Internet companies and other media organizations.

Lenski is an expert in the operation and organization of survey research and has been involved in every major exit poll conducted in the last decade for the television networks. Under his supervision, in partnership with Mitofsky International, Edison Media Research currently conducts all exit polls and election projections for the six major news organizations – ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC and the Associated Press.

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The process is described here in detail.

Pew Research Center Interview With Joe Lenski On Exit Polls


Andrew Kohut, President of Pew Research Center, interviews Joe Lenski on exit polls and the upcomming election. From pewresearch.org, September 28, 2006

http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/PewResearch092806.pdf