Around the world, people vote in elections based on the indication from entrance and exit polls. In a surprising move, the ECP has banned entry, exit polls, and surveys ahead of the general elections widely expected to be delayed.
An election exit poll is taken of voters immediately after they leave polling stations. A similar poll is conducted before voters cast their votes called an entrance poll. They are many companies and media organizations that conduct exit polls to get an early indication of how elections have turned out.
In the United States, exit polls largely determine who will win the presidential elections. The National Election Pool (NEP), consisting of media agencies conducts a joint election exit poll. Since 2004 this exit poll has been conducted by Edison Media Research and is fairly accurate of the election win.
The release of exit poll data in the US is controlled. Some countries including the UK, Italy, France, Germany, India, and Singapore have made it a criminal offence to release exit poll figures before all polling stations have closed. But rather than controlling the situation, the election commission of Pakistan has imposed a blanket ban.
The ECP has barred any kind of surveys at polling stations or constituencies that may influence voters’ free choice of casting votes. It has also sought details of expenditures from print, electronic and digital media on paid advertisements of a candidate or political party. The coverage given to political parties will also be tightly monitored.
The ECP said the purpose of the ban was to “protect” voters from any kind of influence and give them free choice. Many independent observers including FAFEN, a non-political organization that monitors elections, have supported the ban, saying exit polls can be used to build perception about a specific candidate or a political party on the polling day and influence results.
It is surprising that Pakistan is still grappling with the concept of exit polls. Since the late 1960s, when exit polls were first introduced, pollsters have been giving an early indication as to how an election has turned out. They have been used as a check on election fraud as a huge gap between its results and the official results may put a big question mark on the credibility of elections.
An exit poll is an important tool to gauge how free, fair, and transparent the elections are. Rather an imposing a blanket ban, the election regulators should issue guidelines to regulate them- that is if they do seek to conduct elections after all.
