Today the U.S. governmental system is practically ruled by political tension and gridlock. With so many differing views that have further polarized the citizens of the United States, it can be difficult to anticipate the results of the upcoming election. Who is really out front to win? Who can win those crucial battleground states? These are a few of the recurring questions present in the minds of many Americans.
The validity of polls trying to predict who will win elections has especially become questioned following the 2016 primary presidential election, in which Donald Trump won the election despite numerous news sources claiming that Hillary Clinton would win by a landslide. So who can we really trust?
The MoCo Student asked students across Montgomery County their thoughts on the validity of election polls:
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“I tend to be weary about election polls. Ever since 2016, I always have an initial distrust that they will be accurate. However, when there is a distribution of multiple polls, I see reliable trends within those that I can trust.”
“I feel like political polarization and media bias play a great role in election polls because mainstream media only looks at the variables that align with their view, if they have one, instead of the big picture.”
- Quince Orchard High School senior Sara Klemow
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“I think that they will be pretty fair because they are very secure and hard to be tampered with.”
- Winston Churchill High School senior Jessica Hu
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“The polls are supposed to provide important information about election results; however, I think that the accuracy of the polls this year is questionable considering their inaccuracy in 2016.”
- Walter Johnson High School junior Olivia Bonnette
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“I think that election polls are somewhat reliable. I would not put my full faith in them because, in the past, they have not reflected the genuine outcome. I think that they are a good resource to understand general areas political views, but I don’t necessarily think that they are reflective of the entire nation’s views. In general, polls are nice to look at but oftentimes I take their information with a grain of salt.”
- Winston Churchill High School senior Lauren De Silva
Interviews by Matthew Minton, Matthew Rabinowitz, and Sangeet Anand
Photo by May Pham of Walt Whitman High School