# Poll: Were you polled? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451 "2004-11-02T00:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/21 "2004-11-02T07:18:32Z")
No. But I’m not old enough to vote just yet. I don’t think my parents were polled either. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/22 "2004-11-02T14:48:24Z")
Nope, not once. But then, even if they had tried, I don’t accept unsolicited phone calls, and would have hung up on them ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/23 "2004-11-02T15:12:45Z")
Yep, three times. I’m not sure why, I live in VA which goes Republican, the race in my congressional district isn’t close, and we don’t have any other major elections going on that would use phone polling. I told the truth to one and lied through my teeth to the other. ---
**Author:** ![SamIAm336](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SamIAm336](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamIAm336)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/24 "2004-11-02T16:59:20Z")
nope, not this year ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/25 "2004-11-02T17:12:43Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Once. The question was something like “Do you think the country is going in the right direction or wrong direction?” Kind of a lame poll. “The country? Heck, the whole world is going in the wrong direction! The sun rose in the west this morning! We gotta get this here globe turned around!” ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/26 "2004-11-02T17:13:52Z")
And, er…no, I haven’t been polled this season. Got to hang up on a lot of recorded messages though. ---
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/27 "2004-11-02T18:48:14Z")
Not once. However a candidate used a pseudo poll to trick me into listening to his message. At first it sounded like a genuine poll. But, as my answers pointed towards another candidate the questions became more and more pointed. “Are you a registered voter?” “Which candidate do you intend to vote for on November 2nd?” “Would you still plan on voting for candidate B, if you knew his plan would lead America STRAIGHT to HELL?” (exaggerating, but not by much) ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/28 "2004-11-02T18:52:04Z")
No, but I don’t have a landline. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/29 "2004-11-02T18:55:59Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > I, too, wouldn’t lie if polled. What’s the point? If you don’t want to do it, just say “no thanks” and hang up. I’m always torn. Do I lie to them, or do I tell them it’s none of their business? I’m very disillusioned with how the whole news media handles the election and the runup to it. I think that their polls can be 1) incorrect (think Florida last time around) b) biased and c) detrimental to the voting process (my state is going Dem/Rep why should I vote), and it’s frequently not clear who is polling and for what reason. I’m really hoping that some news agency will try to involve me in an exit poll this evening, so I can tell them what I really think of the procedure. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/30 "2004-11-02T19:01:08Z")
I polled myself this morning and the results were that I’m voting for Kerry 100%. And you know who’s never been polled? Dick Cheyney’s daughter. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451/31 "2004-11-02T19:21:32Z")
Early in the thread I suggested you should always lie when polled. There were a couple of comments on this asking, basically, “What’s the point in that?” IMO, polls are a detrimental to the election process, as I understand it. We are supposed to be reasoning creatures with our own seperate agendas, needs, and wants. What should it matter to anyone what others think about an issue\*\*. One danger of polls is that they tend to create a drive to be on the “winning” side. I voted for a canidate with no chance of winning but since I have made my displeasure with the butthole twins known I don’t feel the vote was wasted. I feel that many of them, especially on the local level, are highly biased and designed more to create a desired effect than report trends. In a similar way I’m very opposed to TV reporting on the election while polls are still open anywhere in the US. On re-reading the above I realize that I’ve just hi-jacked this thread. Sorry, if there’s more to say about this it will be in a new thread \*\*I don’t preclude talking over issues with others. Or the idea that you can be reasoned into changing your position, or change it over time as new things arise, or listen to those you respect for their insights, knowledge, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-were-you-polled/272451.md?page=1)