From Poll to Poll

摘要

Every election season, armies of math wonks brush off their statistical models and preside over the news divisions' all-important decision desks, deciding when to call each state. The networks use state-by-state exit data from the National Election Pool, which is embargoed until 5 p.m. ET. The embargo has been in place since the 2006 midterm elections; it was a direct result of the leaking of exit-poll data during the 2004 presidential election that erroneously projected Kerry ahead of Bush at the point when many viewers shuffled off to bed.