The only people who believe in the benefit of taking polls are the organizations that take them. It has been proven time and again, especially in the last presidential election, that polls aren’t reliable. I’m sure some polls are accurate if they show a huge majority in favor of a certain political candidate. But in a close election? Not so much. There are reasons why poll taking is obsolete:
90% of people don’t answer their phones. Remember when it was exciting to hear the telephone ring? Unless it happened to be a wrong number, it was always from someone you knew. Now, no one in their right mind automatically picks up their phone when it rings. Most of us receive six or eight spam calls a day on both our landline and our cellphones. To answer is a big mistake. So, if someone does decide to speak with a stranger, there’s something a little bit unusual about that person. Maybe they’re incredibly lonely. Or just not playing with a full deck. Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t trust the validity of their answers to a poll.
Only about 35 to 40 percent of registered voters in the United States actually vote. And so, if you’re polling that group, you have approximately a one out of three chance that the person you’re talking to is actually going to vote at all.
Why don’t people in the USA turn out for the vote? It’s hard to say. Maybe it’s because too many people believe the polls. Voting is easier in some states than it is in others. In states like Indiana, where we have early voting, it’s not nearly as difficult as in states that only allow same day voting. And so, if the polls say your favorite candidate is going to win, you might think there’s no point in going to the trouble of voting.
Often, I’m asked to participate in online polls. That’s the last thing I would ever do. Why not advertise your political leanings over the internet? It could be downright dangerous. At the very least, you will be bombarded with requests for money to support your candidate of choice. Don’t you get enough e mails already?