Political polls can confusing, misleading and hard to understand – but when properly set up and run, they can predict who will become the next President of the United States with extreme accuracy. There are many differences between polls you see in the 2016 election, and they have a huge influence over the political system. Political polls aren’t just used to determine who people will vote for President on Election Day, but also to influence undecided voters. But how are undecided voters influenced by political polls?
When there is a big difference in political polling numbers, many people end up not turning out to vote. This is because they assume that their choice candidate is either far enough ahead in the race to win easily, or because they are perceived to be so far behind that they cannot overcome the difference. Many people don’t know that most major political polls have an error margin of 3 to 4%, This allows some major outlets to manipulate current poll results by shifting their preferred candidate to the further allowable margin of error. But this isn’t the only way that political polls are manipulated.
In most cases, we hear about the latest national polling numbers for Presidential Candidates, which can be misleading. National Polls don’t represent how the political process actually works in the United States, as votes from each state’s electoral delegates determine who will win.
Polls are available for the politically active to take part in all the time, but Presidential Polling brings out a lot more voters to participate. Many people who don’t vote local or non-presidential elections look to participate in political polls online, despite not knowing much about the candidates or policies that they’re voting for. And that’d Ok. Here’s why.
These same people voting in political polls online prior to the Presidential Election are the same ones who will cast a ballot on Election Day as well. Therefore, while the poll pool may not be as politically educated as in Congress polls, for example, they do still represent who will participate in the popular vote on Election day.
You can take part in a political poll today when you cast your vote for President in our mock election. If you already know which candidate you want to win – or even if you don’t – you can vote online for who you think should become the next President of the United States. Once you vote, you will be able to see which candidate is current winning the race in our political poll online.