the question was literally ...
something like:
If the election were today which of the following candidates would you vote for
Romney
Santorum
Paul
Gingrich
Perry
or something to that effect, then it asked it again in a different way and asked to put a number from 1 to 100 of how likely we were to vote for one of the following candidates and the total had to = 100. And Perry’s name was on that question too.
The only thing I can think of is that Perry’s name could be on some primary ballots even after he dropped out.
But when a name on a ballot is no longer running, it isn’t significant as to that person’s candidacy, because there no longer is one.
It might help predict vote totals if you include it in a poll question...you don’t want to assume who his former supporters would vote for, when some of the diehards might still vote for him.
This is a moot question in my mind, because as I type this I don’t know if his name is still on some ballots going forward.