Election Watch | The perils of pre-election polling

The 2016 US presidential election rattled some Americans’ confidence in polling. However, in the 2020 election cycle, media outlets frequently displayed polling numbers, most of which had a similar consensus: President Donald Trump will not be re-elected. How are polls conducted? What went wrong in 2016? How accurate are they in 2020? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Dr. Courtney Kennedy (Director of Survey Research at the Pew Research Centre) and United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman, co-author of the upcoming brief, “Are pre-election polls accurate?”

Discussion Questions

Are the majority of these polls biased one way or another? Why do you think that is?