The problem with polls

DownBallot - Despite some very high-profile misses in recent years, polls remain a valuable tool for helping us evaluate elections—as long as they’re used properly.

But the potential for misuse is great. Among other problems that have cropped up lately, we’ve seen:

• Polls using AI-generated respondents instead of real humans
• Informed ballot questions masquerading as initial ballot questions
• Outright fake polls and polling firms
• Low-quality engagement farms that share polls without links or proper context
• Pollsters who express support for election conspiracy theories

And many other issues as well.