# Should Political Polling be Banned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-polling-be-banned/571364>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 14, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-polling-be-banned/571364 "2011-02-14T21:38:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-polling-be-banned/571364/21 "2011-02-16T16:12:33Z")

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I would not ban polling but I would certainly ban announcement of the results of presidential elections until the last polls (in Alaska/Hawaii, I assume) have closed. Let people finish voting before you start telling them who’s already won.

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-polling-be-banned/571364/22 "2011-02-16T16:31:41Z")

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> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> Doesn’t this sort of make the polls decide the election instead of the voters?

Since when are polls legally binding?

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-polling-be-banned/571364/23 "2011-02-16T16:54:39Z")

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> [@Lust4Life](#):
>
> Polling affects the outcome of elections.
> 
> In the U.K. not that many years ago all the polls showed that the sitting Labour government would have a runaway election victory and that the Conservative Party shouldn’t even bother turning up.
> 
> The result ?
> 
> The Labour voters stayed home in droves, " They don’t need my vote its going to be a shoo in, I’ll watch my favourite soap instead".
> 
> Meanwhile the Conservative voters were , "OK I’ve got really bad influenza/a twisted ankle/its my anniversary…but the party needs every single vote that we can muster ".
> 
> The result was a shock, and I do mean shock, (even for the Cns. Party) victory for the Conservatives.
> 
> So there is a case for banning political polls before an election.
> 
> But otherwise its useful as a reflection of the electorates opinions mid term, hopefully free of political manipulation.

I don’t see a reason for banning political polls here. The poll results affected the election results. So what? One of the attributes of a free society is that people can say and do things that changes what other people do. That’s a feature, not a bug.

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