Do opinion polls influence how you vote?

Question

Do they or not.

Answer 1

Never, never, never. I only vote for the candidate that reflects my own ideals.

Answer 2

It has been shown that polls (and related perceptions of the chances the candidates have) do affect how people vote, sometimes massively.

* In the USA's 2000 presidential election, voters who thought Nader best were urged not to be strategically stupid and instead to vote (dishonestly) for either Gore or Bush, and NES polls showed that about 90% of the voters who thought Nader was best in fact did vote for somebody else. Approximately the same thing also happened (polls also showed, same election) for Buchanan.

* Another, different sort, of example – from p.65 of Lakeman & Lambert's book: a 1950 Gallup poll showed 38% of British voters wanted to vote Liberal but only 9% did.

In both cases, it was a strategic decision to avoid "wasting your vote". Sometimes polls are manipulated to try to cause these
effects.

I suggest endorsing "range voting," a superior voting technique in which strategy in voting is much less important. You can
do so by clicking ENDORSE on the http://rangevoting.org home page and filling out the form. Or, just sit there and complain without doing anything, and fancifully imagine to yourself that everybody just votes they way they feel. (And incidentally, even
if all people always DID vote the way they truly felt, then our current voting system still can easily elect the candidate regarded by a large majority to be worse than every other - example
http://rangevoting.org/LoseAll.html -
we have a horribly bad voting system and few realize it.)

Answer 3

confident. i'm a Democrat and can decide for to determine the Democrats regain administration of the Congress. yet in my State there's a Democratic senator working who's for my section no longer so good because of fact the Republican nominee. So if the polls at election time coach that it relatively is going to be an somewhat close race to win sufficient senate seats to alter administration, i might might desire to vote for the Democrat for that reason. yet whilst it feels like the popular public won't replace regardless, i will vote for the Republican. of direction my one vote won't make any genuine distinction, yet whilst all who have been in my place observed the photograph the comparable way and voted for that reason, the photograph might replace for that reason. So I might desire to apply the technique it relatively is interior the terrific interest of my united states and want others will do the comparable. however the polls would be a ingredient in this occasion, and must be in many different foreseeable circumstances.

Answer 4

Absolutly not, They are a load of rubbish. Dont believe a word of them. They are no doubt a deliberate attempt to sway the electorate.. reverse psycology so to speak.

Answer 5

No I vote for the same party as my father voted, and his father before him.

Answer 6

No they reflect the opinions of others. Not me, unless I participate in them.

Answer 7

Now if you don't believe them are you Dem or Rep

Answer 8

No they are for the liberals!

Answer 9

nope

Answer 10

NO!