Posted on 11/05/2002 4:34:19 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Hooray: Voter News Service, the exit polling system misused by media organizations to try to call elections, failed today, so there won't be a repeat of the kind of phony pro-Gore guesstimates that marred the 2000 election.
News networks announced that they would not call races except, shockingly, on the basis of votes actually counted.
VNS, a consortium consisting of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the Associated Press, said in a statement that its new computer system was not properly analyzing exit poll data, and that the system's output could not be considered reliable. It said it hoped that some numbers would become available throughout the course of Election Night, but was telling new agencies to be prepared to operate without the predictions.
"Even before the announcement, the technical glitches in the program were sending campaign observers and race-watchers into a panic," United Press International reported tonight.
The TV networks responded by promising viewers that they would not be making projections based on exit polls. So does that mean that this time they won't claim a Democrat has won Florida before polls have even closed in the pro-Bush Panhandle?
"The decision to abandon the traditional manner of predicting election outcomes leaves the nation's media organizations dependent on official results from counted votes to declare winners and losers, and is likely to dramatically delay information about the outcome of Tuesday's election," United Press International reported.
There might be delays, but maybe when the information arrives it will actually be accurate.
Judge Collins Kilgore has granted an injunction on behalf of the Democratic Party to keep the polls in Pulaski County open until 9:00 p.m.
The Democratic party asked for the injuction because of the lack of ballots at many polling locations around the county.
This is a developing story and Today's THV will have reports as they become available.
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