Among democracies, U.S. stands out in how it chooses its head of state
No other democratic nation fills its top job quite the way the U.S. does, and only a handful are even similar.
Methods
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Video: Why 2016 election polls missed their mark
The results of the 2016 presidential election came as a surprise to nearly everyone who had been following the national and state election polling
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Why 2016 election polls missed their mark
There is a great deal of speculation but no clear answers as to the cause of the disconnect, but there is one point of agreement: Across the board, polls underestimated Trump’s level of support.
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On Election Day, most voters use electronic or optical-scan ballots
The great majority of Americans who vote on Election Day will use one of two basic technologies: “fill-in-the-bubble” and other optical-scan ballots, or touch-screen computers and other direct recording electronic systems.
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Just how does the general election exit poll work, anyway?
The firm that runs the presidential exit poll expects to interview about 100,000 voters across the country by the time the polls close on election night.
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Child marriage is rare in the U.S., though this varies by state
About 57,800 minors in the U.S. ages 15 to 17 are married – or five of every 1,000 in that age group. But the rate of child marriage varies widely between states.
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U.S. electoral system ranks high – but not highest – in global comparisons
Though many Americans say they’re concerned about possible election fraud, the U.S. electoral system generally ranks high in cross-national comparisons.
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Oversampling is used to study small groups, not bias poll results
As oversampling and its possible effect on presidential polls are spotlighted ahead of Election Day, learn more about this practice and how pollsters adjust for it.
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Cellphone Activity Flags
As telephone interviewing costs continue to rise and cellphones represent an increasing share of survey samples, survey researchers are exploring approaches to make these designs more cost-effective.
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Putting post-debate ‘flash polls’ into perspective
In the aftermath of presidential debates, there is intense interest in gauging “who won.” How can we know the answer to that question?
