The perils of pre-election polling

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USSC Live

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The 2016 US presidential election rattled public confidence in polling. Yet, in the 2020 election cycle, news media is still dominated by the latest polling numbers and a similar consensus that 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 in conversation with United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman, co-author of the upcoming brief, “Are pre-election polls accurate?”