US presidential election: How do exit polls work?

How do exit polls work?ORIGINAL.

Transcript

00:00This election day, voters will huddle around TVs, laptops, and phones to watch the results

00:05of this year's presidential and congressional elections.

00:08As voters wait to see whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will take control of the White House,

00:12media organizations will use several tools to tell people about the results.

00:16One crucial tool reporters use is exit polling.

00:19For exit polls, pollsters speak to voters after they cast their ballots

00:23to find out who they voted for. Pollsters also call and text voters who mailed in their ballots,

00:28as well as finding out their preferred candidate, they ask about various key issues like the economy,

00:32inflation, and abortion. And they'll also ask for a voter's demographic information,

00:37like their race, but these polls are completely anonymous.

00:41News organizations then use exit polls to give their audiences a peek into how people voted

00:45before the actual voting data is available. Media outlets also use them to help project

00:50winners in states where the margin is large and a candidate is expected to win in a landslide.

00:55But most projections are made using actual voting data after the polls close.