Are Local Election Polls Accurate?

Are Local Election Polls Accurate?


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Greg Neft, KSL Newsradio With a week before Utah votes, polls seem to indicate that most people have their minds made up about things like the Salt Lake City mayor's race and school vouchers, but how reliable are the polls?

One University of Utah political science professor says by now the polls are pretty accurate. "People have now had a chance to hear these issues and have had a chance to make up their mind. Early polls are often much more tentative," explains Matthew Burbank.

However, he says there's always a chance of change. "It's possible that you could see shifts of opinion," says Burbank.

Case in point, Burbank says, the Salt Lake City mayoral primary in which finalist Ralph Becker wasn't given much of a chance. "Given kind of a late shift in the primary, what we saw was that he did much better than polls would have expected," says Burbank.

He says the key is voter turnout and those who are on the fence coming to a decision

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