A decision desk is a team of experts that one or many US news organizations assemble to analyze incoming data about election results and project winners on election day.[1][2][3][4] Decision desks use exit polling data as well as officially reported results as they come in, to project and then "call" the winners of elections on election night.[5][6] "Projected winners" are only unofficial; depending on state or local laws, election officials may still have days or weeks after election day to complete counting votes and certifying winners.[6]

History

Exit polling data was gathered by Voter News Service which existed from 1990 to 2003, and which was disbanded due to disastrous mistakes in the 2000 presidential election and in the 2002 elections.[7][8] Afterward they formed the National Election Pool which produced skewed results in the 2004 US presidential election[9] and in the 2016 presidential elections.[5]

Megyn Kelly was made famous when she walked backstage to Fox News' decision desk team during the broadcast of the 2012 US presidential election results, when Karl Rove contradicted the team's prediction that Obama would win.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Gough, Paul J. (6 November 2006). "Political pressure mounts on decision desks". Associated Press via The Hollywood Reporter.
  2. ^ Rutenberg, Jim (3 November 2004). "An Early Night for Viewers Becomes a Cliffhanger". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Feinberg, Stephen E. (2014). "Chapter 13: Statistics in Service to the Nation". In Lin, Xihong; Genest, Christian; Banks, David L.; Molenberghs, Geert; Scott, David W.; Wang, Jane-Ling (eds.). Past, Present, and Future of Statistical Science. CRC Press. ISBN 9781482204988.
  4. ^ Westin, David (2012). Exit Interview. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9781466815568.
  5. ^ a b Shepard, Steven (9 December 2017). "Is this the beginning of the end of the exit poll?". Politico.
  6. ^ a b "How does CNN make election projections?". CNN. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009.
  7. ^ Doan, Amy (November 29, 2000). "Antitrust Group Targets Voter News Service". Forbes.com. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  8. ^ Morin, Richard (January 14, 2003). "Networks To Dissolve Exit Poll Service". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 August 2011.
  9. ^ Rutenberg, Jim (5 November 2004). "Report Says Problems Led to Skewed Surveying Data". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Reeve, Elspeth (November 7, 2012). "The Time Karl Rove Took on the Fox News Decision Desk". The Atlantic.
  11. ^ "What each of the TV networks are planning for election night". Madera Tribune. November 4, 2016.
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