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From: nmm@ers.UUCP (Neil McCulloch)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Projecting winners in elections
Message-ID: <716@ers.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 22-Nov-87 11:35:37 EST
Article-I.D.: ers.716
Posted: Sun Nov 22 11:35:37 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Nov-87 06:36:11 EST
References: <899@cod.NOSC.MIL>
Organization: Alberta Public Safety Services
Lines: 31
Summary: Of course there's a problem!

In article <899@cod.NOSC.MIL>, rupp@cod.NOSC.MIL (William L. Rupp) writes:
> So, short of suspending voters' Constitutional right to talk to reporters,
> and the networks' Constitutional right to free speech (i.e., the right to
> broadcast results of their analysis of exit poll data), I think these
> projections will continue.  Some have suggested that voters  lie to the
> reporters, telling them that they voted for someone other than the
> candidates and issues they really voted for.  This will never work.
> People tend to tell the truth by and large to poll takers.  Also,
> deliberately lying does not sound like a good practice within sight
> of the U.S. flag in front of the polling place.

You mean the flag will zap them with a bolt of lightning?
 
> preliminary estimates.)  On the other hand, I think Congress easily
> could do more harm than good by fiddling with what the networks can say
> on election day.  That seems like a poor day to limit Constitutional
> rights.

In Canada there is an outright ban on any polls being published. 
The point is quite fundamental. In Canada it is realised that in order
to protect the democratic process it is more important that the election
process be as fair as possible than the media's right to free speech.
The media have there rights curtailed for a specified period of time
in order that the individual's rights and the nation's requirement for
a fair un-skewed election is secured. A trade off of such as this once
every 5 years or so seems an admirable compromise. Now if only the
election act were changed to acknowledge the fact that while the polls
in Newfoundland close at 2000, they won't close in BC for another 4.5 
hours.

neil