While students across the United States were focused on voting in the election on Nov. 5, some students in Pennsylvania universities also participated in running an exit poll at polling sites across the state.
This year, students from Wilkes University also conducted an exit poll at polling locations throughout Luzerne County and some cities outside of the county. Dr. Benjamin Toll, associate professor of political science, organized the poll at Wilkes with students from his U.S. Parties and Elections class.
Twelve different universities in Pennsylvania, including schools like Wilkes, Penn State, Villa Nova, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pittsburgh, all participated in the poll at locations near their campuses.
The goal of the poll was to allow political science students to conduct exit polls in order to understand the process and experience it first hand. It also allowed students to look at issues they felt were relevant to their particular areas within the state and within their own particular interests.
Some of the students from Dr. Toll’s class shared their thoughts and experiences doing the poll.
Garrett Berlin, senior history major, said what he felt the goal of the exit poll was.
“This poll aimed to gather immediate voter feedback, providing insight into voting behavior, opinions on candidates and stances on key issues like reproductive rights and the economy,” Berlin said. “From these polls, we can hope to gain a better understanding of voter priorities, shifts in public opinion, and factors that influence turnout, potentially informing predictions for future elections.”
Students in the class got to create some of the questions asked on the poll and chose questions on issues like immigration, reproductive rights, foreign aid, education and voter security. The goal was to understand what voters in the area felt were the most important and how these issues influenced their choices on election day.
Ciara Williams, sophomore political science major, commented on the benefits of doing a poll like this.
“It was great to know who is really interested in politics and it brings the question of if they truly know what different policies mean to them,” Williams said.
On Election Day, students stood outside of local polling places throughout Luzerne County and some towns outside of the county at various times throughout the day. They would ask voters as they were leaving their polling place if they were interested in completing the poll. The poll was anonymous and asked questions about who the person voted for, some information like their age, gender and race and their opinions on certain issues.
Basma Al-Salem, junior political science and international relations major, shared her experience with asking voters to fill out the poll.
“I had a ton of rejection from people who didn’t want to do the exit poll, which was fine,” Al-Salem said. “Everyone was nice and would say no or yes. There were just a few people who ignored me, which I was kind of sad about, but it was ok.”
Berlin also talked about his experience conducting the poll.
“The experience was both challenging and rewarding,” Berlin said. “It required approaching strangers respectfully, asking questions that might be sensitive, and recording their responses accurately. Interacting with voters directly gave a real sense of how local issues resonate with people. It seemed like a majority of individuals preferred to decline taking the poll rather than to participate.”
The results of the survey will allow students and faculty to compare data from the polls conducted across the state to see how voters are behaving. It will offer insight into a lot of different issues and decisions voters make. The students talked about what they thought of the results of the poll so far, and what they hope to gain from doing this.
Al-Salem said that she “hoped to see something we didn’t expect to. Like they vote for a person but believe in different policies.”
“I truly hoped that people would be more honest in their surveys.” Williams said regarding her own personal experience conducting the poll. “It is natural to change what you think in a spot to avoid a bad first impression, but it is easy to tell in conversation what you think or believe.”
While the students had mixed opinions about their experiences, and what they hoped would come from the poll, it seemed that they all felt like the experience was important for themselves and to understand voters better.
Berlin shared about what he had seen of the result of the polls so far.
“Specifically, something I am taking away from conducting this poll is how uneducated the U.S. electorate actually is,” he said. “This experience revealed how many voters rely on basic information, party affiliation, or general sentiments rather than in-depth understanding of the platforms, policy specifics, or candidates’ stances.”
“Conducting the poll also highlighted how much influence certain media sources or social networks have on voter perspectives,” Berlin added. “It was very clear that some voters might not have had a balanced view of candidates or issues, which may reflect the powerful role of media in shaping public opinion.”
The data that was collected from each university’s poll will be shared with each school for students and faculty to utilize in their own research or to teach within classes.
The data will be sent to all of the schools so it can be used by students and faculty alike to teach with. This is exciting because students could do their capstone projects or other projects based on exit polls
The exit poll conducted by Dr. Toll’s class allowed Wilkes to be a part of an interesting experience for political science students. It will also provide more insight into voting behavior in our local area for future research or teaching opportunities, and overall give students and faculty a deeper understanding of the issues and opinions that drive voters to decide who they will elect.