Watch: Understanding Political Polls For The 2020 General Election

Here’s a look how to understand polls as early voting continues in the 2020 election.

Lynne Sladky / Associated Press

Recent polling in Georgia shows many of the Republican and Democratic candidates are in extremely tight races. But what do those polls actually mean and how accurate are they?

Polls are like a snapshot of the public’s opinions.

Polling is done using a survey method called quota sampling. In quota sampling, pollsters survey a representative portion of a larger population to get specific information like voters’ preference. This method was pioneered by George Gallup in the 1930s and has proven to be an effective method to determine possible political outcomes.

WABE’s Lisa Rayam breaks down how polls are conducted, what types of polls to trust and just what went wrong with polling in the 2016 presidential election.

 

Video written, produced and edited by Brianna Carr. Director of photography is Alphonso Whitfield.