As the 2010 elections wind down, and people come home, sit down, and watch the news to try and figure out the results to the 2010 elections, exit polls will likely play a large roll in the statistics they view, and news stories they watch. The problem is exit polls do an awful job at predicting election results in general, especially those results from exit polls released immediately after the 5:30 PM quarantine.

At 5:30 the various news stations, as well as online political sites will begin releasing the data they get from the polling center’s exit polls. The data, however, is only from a small sample of voters, meaning that there are incredibly large margins for error. Not only that, but people are not always 100% truthful in the polling, or only those with specific political affiliation may take part, making the results very skewed. These polls can also be very dangerous to the entire voting process. For instance, as the first couple waves of exit poll data begin trickling in, and the various news agencies start reporting it, those who have yet to vote, may examine the data and feel that there is no need to vote if one candidate is running away with the election. It’s not until the polls close that exit polling can be more reliable, as larger samples of the voting population are factored into the results.

The point is, you should never take exit poll data as a true indicator of what the actual election results will be, because often times they are way off course.