|
Reader question: Please explain “exit poll” in this sentence: At least one exit poll has Hillary Clinton losing…. My comments: That is to say, at least one opinion poll right after votes were cast pointed towards Hillary Clinton losing on election night. Literally, “exit poll” means a poll at the exit of the polls. Sorry about the confusion. The polls (plural) refer to a polling station or a polling place where voters cast their votes at the poll booths. But the “poll” in “exit poll” refers to an opinion poll, a survey of public opinion via asking people questions. Anyways, a poll at the exit of a polling station works like this. After each person comes out of polling station, having cast their votes, pollsters ask him or her who they have voted for – in the case of this year’s American election, Clinton or Donald Trump. After gathering a sufficient number of answers, pollsters will announce the result of their survey at their particular locale, whether Clinton has won more votes than Trump does – or vice versa. There are many polling stations around the country, of course. Therefore, exit polls can be conducted anywhere – at any such “exit”. By conducting the exit poll, a newspaper or TV station or some online news service is able to make a reasonably successful prediction on election results because it is done after people have actually cast their votes. Polls before the election can theoretically be considered more or less erroneous because people, for example, may not have made up their mind at that point in time. After the election, however, people are usually more willing to tell – and tell the truth. | 
