Trisha Kirk Kirk is a fourth-year
political science student who can form an opinion about anything,
but always gives the other side a fighting chance. She looks
forward to hearing your comments and opinions at trishakirk@hotmail.com.
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Media organizations in this country don’t just report on
national elections, they sway them.
Using exit poll results to cast unsubstantiated election
predictions before polls have closed may put competing media
organizations at the forefront of breaking news. It can also alter
election outcomes.
In a race as close as this presidential election, any casual
comment made on the air could sway voters still trekking to the
polls on the west coast. And any state prematurely declared
“won” by a candidate, as in the case of Florida, could
conceivably change the country’s future.
Exit polls are taken outside polling places. After voters submit
their ballots, they are asked for whom they voted, and polling
agencies pass the unofficial vote count on to the media.
In their race to bring the latest election news to viewers and
Internet users faster than the competition, news organizations use
exit poll results to predetermine the likely outcome in each state.
They broadcast these unverified vote tallies, whether or not the
results will prove to be accurate. With only a few measly electoral
votes separating the two main candidates, no one wants to keep the
impatient American public waiting, right?
 Illustration by ERICA PINTO/Daily Bruin The problem is,
Florida was given to Vice President Al Gore too early on Election
Night. Poll results showed Gore as the likely winner until the
state was moved back to the “undecided column,” an
indication that the actual ballots being counted in Florida were
proving the election too close to call.
Oops.
Later during an already tense night, with the candidates
neck-and-neck in Electoral College votes, news sources gave Florida
to Texas Gov. George W. Bush and declared him president.
Florida’s 25 electoral votes put Bush over the requisite 270,
making him victorious. But keep your shirt on, Dubya. More Florida
ballot counts later indicated that the race was still too close to
call. Back to the undecided column.
Oops, again.
After all that exciting Election Night chaos, the American
public was left with two frustrated candidates, both ready to claim
victory as soon as Florida finished meticulous recounts and all the
absentee ballots were counted.
What is inconceivable is that the American public blames
everyone except the media for the limbo condition following the
election, although it is clear that votes were influenced by
unsubstantiated poll results broadcast by the media on Election
Night.
Some argue that the Electoral College, not the media, is at
fault. These people want to do away with the electoral vote system
and choose candidates by popular vote, which would make Gore the
winner. But the Electoral College was designed to protect minority
interests and to force candidates to support constituents in states
with lower populations. There is no reason to change this part of
the election process; it is working as it was intended.
Others argue that because some Florida ballots were
“confusing,” voters there are entitled to a recount.
Voters who are confused by a ballot and do not request help, or
mistakenly punch the wrong hole without asking for a new ballot,
simply lack the intelligence to fill out a clearly marked piece of
paper. They have no claim to a revote.
The Electoral College got the flak for the frozen election; so
did ballot designers and incompetent voters. But no one broke down
network doors with pickets or called the media the election spoiler
it truly is.
One American, however, does understand the influences of the
media. Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., publicly bashed television
election coverage two days after the deadlock. He blasted the media
for false reporting, for reporting vote tally mistakes and for
leaking unverified data gleaned from exit polls.
In their rush to bring Americans the election results first, the
networks jumped the gun. They called states far too early, using
exit poll results to determine which candidate would take each
state.
This might have worked for states that showed clear victories
for either candidate, but not in Florida.
First of all, Florida has two time zones. The panhandle part of
the state is one hour behind the peninsula. By calling the state
for Gore before polls had closed in the panhandle ““ a region
with many counties that strongly support Bush ““ the networks
caused voters to walk out of polling places without voting. If Gore
has already won the state, why should they bother to vote?
This early call may have influenced several thousand votes in
Florida, not to mention the effect it had on voters on the west
coast, where polls were nowhere near closing time.
Similarly, as Tauzin claims, early media declarations of Bush
wins across the Midwest may have motivated California voters, who
may not have voted otherwise, to get to the polls to make sure Gore
won the state.
Secondly, Florida has an unbelievable reputation for botching
elections. In some Florida counties, people are known to have voted
twice and dead people have voted years after they are buried.
Polling sites have been moved without notice, ballot boxes are
routinely misplaced, and absentee ballots have been forged. Do we
expect the incompetent election officials in this state to
efficiently manage manual recounts? The new results will be even
more screwed up than the first botched batch.
Florida also has a long history of voter fraud, specifically
racism and corruption that has often prevented citizens,
particularly African Americans, from fulfilling their civic duty.
And let’s not forget the voters in the Sunshine State who
can’t seem to figure out if they punched the hole for Gore or
Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan.
Given all this information about bungled and inferior election
proceedings in Florida, one would think the media might take a
closer look at the confirmed ballot counts in that state before
calling it for a candidate. One would think so, especially when
Florida appeared in a position to determine the next president in
the tightest race since John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon at
the polls in 1960.
In a poll conducted by “The Polling Company,” 73
percent of Americans agreed that the media should broadcast fewer
poll results on Election Night.
A poll to eliminate polls. Ironic, but it makes a good point.
Media networks and pollsters are not responsible for determining
who will win elections. That is the duty of the Electoral College.
Exit polling leads to election interference and such releases of
unverified information should be banned by congressional
legislation.
While we wait for the recounts in Florida to be approved or
rejected and watch absentee ballots trickle in, we can only
speculate about the final outcome of this deadlocked election.
One cannot help wondering, though, how many American votes were
influenced by untimely and unverified media disclosures and whether
the results might have been different.