Congressman Conyers Requests Raw Exit Poll Data - Again
/Rep. Conyers' Letter to Exit Polling Firms: "The stakes for our
democracy are simply too high for us to allow this matter to pass
without a serious and substantive review of the exit poll data." I have
reviewed the internal report you issued yesterday concerning your exit
polling in the 2004 election, and, unfortunately, it has not caused my
concerns and questions regarding the significant discrepancies between
your polling data and the final electoral results to diminish. In
particular, I would note that there are a number of concerns with the
explanations you posited in your internal report that do not credibly
account for the unprecedented five point differential between your exit
polls and the reported results. As I am sure you know, Professor Steven
Freeman of the University of Pennsylvania has determined that such a
differential was of a less than 1 in a 1000 likelihood - virtually
impossible as a statistical matter. To be frank, blaming such factors
as distant restrictions on polling places, weather conditions, the age
of exit poll workers, and the fact that multiple precincts were
contained at the same polling place, as your report does, does not come
close to explaining why the exit polls overstated support for the
Kerry/Edwards ticket in 26 states and support for the Bush/Cheney
ticket in only 4 states. Many of the factors you point to appear to
merely be random characteristics of the election and your exit polling,
rather than quantifiable and justifiable explanations. Nor can I
believe that the massive discrepancies can credibly be written off to
eagerness of Kerry voters to participate in the exit polls. As a
result, I would like to reiterate my request to receive the actual raw
exit poll data that you obtained. I would also like to obtain copies of
all internal deliberations, memos and other materials of your employees
and consultants concerning or seeking to explain the discrepancies. [more] and [more]
