Polling the Election Night 2024 Pollsters: ABC News' Rick Klein

ABC News' Rick Klein on the challenges of election night polling

In the lead-up to the 2024 election, ABC News' Rick Klein is cautioning against putting too much stock in election night polls.

In an interview with Mediaite, Klein said that the challenges of polling in the current political climate make it difficult to get a truly accurate read on the electorate.

"The electorate is so polarized, and there's so much partisan animosity, that it's very difficult to get people to answer polls honestly," Klein said. "And even when they do answer honestly, their answers are often shaped by their partisan biases."

The challenges of polling in the digital age

Klein also pointed to the challenges of polling in the digital age, where people are increasingly getting their news from social media and other partisan sources.

"The way people consume news has changed so much in the past decade," Klein said. "People are more likely to get their news from social media, which is often an echo chamber of partisan views."

"This makes it more difficult to get a representative sample of the electorate, because people who are more engaged in politics are also more likely to be exposed to partisan news sources."

What to keep in mind on election night

Klein said that there are a few things to keep in mind when watching the election returns on election night.

First, he said, it's important to remember that polls are just a snapshot of the electorate at a particular moment in time.

"Polls can be wrong, and they can change quickly," Klein said. "So it's important not to overreact to any one poll."

Second, Klein said, it's important to pay attention to the margins of error in the polls.

"The margin of error tells you how much the poll results could be off," Klein said. "So if a poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%, that means the results could be off by as much as 6%."

Finally, Klein said, it's important to remember that election night polls are just one piece of the puzzle.

"There are a lot of other factors that can affect the outcome of an election, such as the economy, the candidates, and the political climate," Klein said. "So it's important to take all of these factors into account when making predictions about the outcome of the election."