Remember the total collapse of exit polls on the night of 2000 election??

[DemocracyInaction]

Something is swimming in my mind and I have to pick YOUR mind--especially those who can search and come up with past info in a nano second.

Do you remember how early in the evening of the 2000 election, the exit polls were suspended----first time for me in pushing a half a century of following elections that this ever happened. Few days after, the pollsters, including Zogby, gave explainations. I remember them saying (no duh) that this was just shocking to them. What I want to know is if you know (or can find out) EXACTLY what they blamed for the collapse. Did they blame it on the exit polls just not matching up with the pre-election polls and, therefore, what they expected?? I really want to know what it was for this reason:

Remember that the current polls also are (and this is spookey) predicting some of the numbers that they predicted in 2000 (I'm talking these polls that have Bush like 51 to 45 over Kerry---I mean almost a carbon copy of the Bush vs. Gore in a few of these national polls). And, of course, we know what eventually happened. IF the answer to my original question is that they were confused because it just didn't jive with their pre-polling, then it gives a real credance to what all of you have been saying here; ie., that they don't poll cell phones and new registrations--both of those were just emerging at that time. I really want to know what the pollsters blamed the collapse on because if it was that the pre-polling and the exit polling just didn't jive, then we know right were this election is heading regardless of their current stats. If they screwed up on newly registered (and there was a good drive going) and cell phones back then, then they still haven't corrected it. Soooo, if you know what they blamed it on back then, please post.

[DuaneBidoux]

1. Remember specifically when all the Networks called Florida for

Gore, even Fox. That was because they did exit polling asking people how they voted and they actually TOLD them how they THOUGHT they had voted.

[aquart]

2. The exit polls didn't "collapse."

They said people voted for more for Gore. They did.

The exit polls were pushed aside. They were condemned. Voter News Service was disbanded.

Because they gave the true vote.

[DemocracyInaction]

4. That's what I mean---it didn't jive with expectations

Now we have some of these polls with 5-6 point leads for Bush that are not jiving with a whole bunch that have a tied race. We have people here talking about how they don't poll all these people (the modern age) with no land phones and new registrations. That was just emerging back then. So I'm thinking that that is why some of these polls keep going off into wacko land and giving Bush these leads over respected core polls that show a dead heat race. I think, in essence, the devil (and the whole damn election) are in the cell phone/new voter details.

[Kahuna]

5. Yep. The exit polls are to test the veracity of the poll results...

The exit polls were correct. The fact that bush prevailed in spite of the exit polls results is just more proof positive that he stole the election. Of course the media whores, in order to assist the coup, blamed the exit polls instead of the election thief.

[Shoeempress]

3. Here's a link to an article in the guardian regarding the collapse.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-5-2002-29700.asp

[doubleplusgood]

6. right, abandoned immediately before 2002 mid-term election

In 2000, the VNS exit polls were correct in every state in the country...including Florida, where they showed Gore winning. We now know that because of butterfly ballots, "spoiled" ballots, undervotes, overvotes, etc. that many Gore votes were never counted.

IIRC, the Republican response after the 2000 election fiasco was to have a congressional committee angrily grill the VNS folks to find out why they didn't find that Bush had "won" in Florida, ignoring, of course, the GOP election shenanigans. I have to think that these tactics of intimidation led to the abandonment of the VNS exit polls in 2002, thus removing a major safeguard against election fraud.