 AP Photo
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Posted on 11/05/2002 8:08:26 PM PST by Timesink
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Voter News Service abandoned its state and national exit poll plans for Election Night, saying it could not guarantee the accuracy of the analysis which media organizations use to help explain why people voted as they did.
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The decision did not affect VNS' separate operation for counting the actual vote. VNS also hoped to have limited information from the exit poll surveys to give its members guidance in projecting winners for individual races.
Still, it was a major setback for VNS — a consortium consisting of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and The Associated Press. VNS had completely rebuilt its system in response to the 2000 election, when television networks twice used its information to make wrong calls in the decisive Florida vote for the presidential election.
"We're disappointed that VNS wasn't able to provide this material," said Jonathan Wolman, senior vice president of The Associated Press. "Polling place interviews provide an invaluable glimpse at voters' mood and priorities."
As in the past, AP was calling election winners in a process that involves an analysis of the actual vote returns, Wolman said. "Our emphasis is on accuracy and we're confident we'll provide a strong service tonight."
In addition, AP reporters around the country conduct their own interviews with voters on Election Day to gather quotes to enrich their stories. This material, though not a scientific survey, helps give readers some insight into how individual voters made their decisions.
The VNS exit poll was of particular importance to broadcasters and 19 newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today, that had contracted with the consortium to receive that information to report on Election Day trends.
Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, notified of the VNS decision not to provide exit polls, said that, "If they're not accurate, then I'm glad they went ahead and announced it."
VNS has a separate vote-counting operation that was also being put to
the test on Tuesday night. Early indications were it was running smoothly, said Ted Savaglio, VNS executive director. AP conducts an independent vote count and provides VNS members with access to the results in the event the VNS count should falter.
In the weeks heading up to Election Day, VNS was never able to work out the bugs in the portion of the exit poll used to glean detailed information on how people felt about issues and how certain groups voted.
VNS said the exit poll information was being collected but not being properly analyzed by the organization's new computer system.
VNS had other problems: computer screens briefly froze when workers phoned in exit poll information, and more people than expected failed to call with completed questionnaires, Savaglio said.
ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said the network had prepared for the possibility that VNS would not be ready on Election Night. It put the emphasis on "good, old-fashioned reporting" to tell what happens, he said.
"Everyone's disappointed not to have exit polls," Schneider said. "That said, the most important thing is ensuring that we put out accurate and reliable information."
Angered by the networks' performance in the 2000 election, Congress brought news media organizations to Washington to explain their performance and was watching to see if there was a repeat this year.
Bill Wheatley, executive vice president of NBC News, said there was still a possibility that the exit poll data would be available in the next few days. Meanwhile, NBC and CBS planned to use the results of their own joint poll of voter attitudes conducted last weekend using the same survey questions as VNS.
Wheatley said his network would look at VNS' additional exit poll information for use in projections, "but unless we have a high degree of confidence in it, we won't be using it."
"All along, we said we were going to be extremely cautious tonight," he said.
CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson said his network would rely on political reporters across the country to provide texture for its coverage.
"There is a good side to it, which is we'll have a great lesson in civics as people watch real votes being counted," he said.
Even though VNS was still providing exit poll data to help the networks project winners, CBS News spokesman Sandra Genelius said, "We're not going to count on that information."
While a disappointment, Savaglio said VNS' plans were ambitious. In addition to providing information useful for stories, VNS had hoped the exit poll operation would be working to provide a test run for the 2004 presidential election.
AS OPPOSED TO FAKE VOTES BEING COUNTED IN THE BACK ROOM THAT PEOPLE AREN'T WATCHING?
Pookie & Me
Heck, if they can't provide their one day, every two years service, who needs 'em?
Another piece of trash proven to be voodoo in 2002
Not true - at all. If the VNS survives, there should be at least one other option for those of us who enjoyed watching the actual vote count returns.
That's what I was thinking too. They new it was going to be bad for the D's and they didn't want to make it worse by suppressing the vote in the west.
They are sooooooo transparent.
I suspect you are right that someone muzzled them. I think the debacle last time really damaged the networks (YES!) and I think they were really afraid this time--especially because:
Angered by the networks' performance in the 2000 election, Congress brought news media organizations to Washington to explain their performance and was watching to see if there was a repeat this year.
Hahahahahahaha. I hope this evil scam disappears completely.
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