Media Contact: Joe Hadfield (801) 422-9206
Writer: Kate Kelly and Amy La Monica
Since 1982, The Utah Colleges Exit Poll has been a helpful tool to understanding Utah elections. Through a sample of voters exiting the polls on Election Day, the questionnaire collects information on voting behaviors, issue positions, demographics and more. The exit poll does more than predict winners; it enables interpretation of the meaning of the votes that are cast.
Students. The Utah Colleges Exit Poll is the only existing statewide student-run exit poll in the nation. BYU undergraduate students from two disciplines — statistics and political science— design the project. On Election Day, more than 900 student volunteers from campuses across the state carry out the exit poll. The direct involvement by students facilitates first-hand learning of the political process and is an invaluable educational opportunity for all who participate.
- 500 volunteer interviewers fan out to 104 polling places
- 200 students volunteer for data entry assignments
- 100 students work with logistical coordination and roving crisis teams
- 75 students produce the KBYU Election Night news broadcast
- 30 gallons of hot chocolate and hundreds of donuts help the students cover an estimated 4,000 miles on the road on Election Day
Accuracy. The BYU statistics students, guided by professors Howard Christensen, Dan Williams and Paul Fields, design a sample that gives an accurate picture of Utah voters. The results are very precise; In the 2003 Salt Lake County mayoral race, the KBYU/Utah Colleges Exit Poll predicted 53.8 percent of the vote for Rocky Anderson and 46.2 percent for Frank Pignanelli. In the actual vote, Anderson carried 54 percent of the vote to Pignanelli’s 46 percent.
2007. This year will be the second mayoral contest that the Utah Colleges
Exit Poll has covered. We will be conducting interviews throughout Salt Lake and
broadcasting the results on KBYU after the polls close at 8:00 pm. This year students
from Westminster College and Brigham Young University will be participating.