Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Sept. 5, 2012, edition 1 / Page 7
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& If the election was tomorrow, who would you vote for? Wednesday, Septembers, 2012 • page 7 Elon Poll Results 47.3% breakdown by gender 3% 4% Barack Obama 0) 03 Mitt Romney Neither 0) Don’t know TO E Refused TO u. 2% 8% 1% I ■/ 100 Breakdown by race 3% 6% 18-30 Voter breakdown 60 ^ 58% 50 40 30 20 10 ^ 0 34% TO [£ Barack Obama > Mitt Romney jst: o Neither TO m Don’t know Refused TO jC ■fM* o 80 100 Before the release; Elon Poll strives to collect accurate data about N.C. voter preference Melissa Kansky News Editor The most recent Elon University Poll communicates the significance of North Carolina voter opinions in rela tion to the upcoming national election. The poll, which began Aug. 25 and concluded Aug. 30, questioned regis tered voters in North Carolina about issues in the presidential campaign relevant to their state, specifically. “States and opinions within the state are very important,” said Jason Husser, assistant professor of political science and assistant director of the Elon Poll. “Issues come up at state level.” North Carolina’s characterization as a swing state elevates the importance of understanding the interests of the state’s voting popiJation. “Because it’s election year, North Carolina is a hot spot for political elections,” said Kenneth Fernandez, director of the Elon PoU. Husser named North Carolina as the third most important state to win in this election, after Florida and Ohio. Their size and unreliable position have provoked the candidates to invest time and money in these dynamic states, he said. “If you look at the map of the 2012 election as is, Barack Obama tends to have more states that are already lean ing in his favor,” Husser said. “In order for Romney to win, he has to hit it hard in North Carolina.” While previous Elon Polls have questioned individuals about political views, this is the first time the Elon PoU directly asked which candidate the interviewee would vote for, according to Janna Anderson, associate professor of communications. “The outcome of the election wiU be public knowledge, so we have to make sure we get it right,” said Husser in reference to the accuracy of the poU. The assistant director recognized a potential bias in the Elon PoU results because the Republican National Convention took place during part of the polling period. Although such a spike in attention toward the RepubUcan candidate is ephemeral, Husser said he expects the poU results to contain a greater incUnation toward Romney than normal. “Surveys are measurements of brief moments of what is on the pubUc con science,” Flusser said. Although surveys provide infor mation to society at large about voter opinions, Husser described the out comes as “best estimates” and cau tioned against touting survey results as absolute tmth. “Opinion is amorphous,” he said. “Don’t treat sun^eys as a measuring tape.” Those involved with the Elon PoU conduct a scientific survey of the popu lation of interest, using a random selec tion of individuals with telephones and wireless telephone numbers to generate the population sample. ‘We’re caUing randomly constmct- ed phone numbers,” Husser said. “We have no idea what the people are like on the other end of those numbers.” If conducted properly, the poU results wiU also provide insight into the interests of subgroups and what kind of coalitions are in favor of which politi cians, he said. Participation in the Elon PoU allows students and faculty to exercise their civic responsibility. The Elon PoU employs student volunteers to administer the poU in order to enhance their educational experience. The poU is fully ftinded by Elon University, a non-partisan entity.
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Sept. 5, 2012, edition 1
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