What are they and how do exit polls work in the United States?

() – What are exit surveys? They are a set of surveys that ask voters who they voted for, as well as additional questions about their political opinions, the factors they considered in the election, and their overall background.

This helps us better understand who turned out to vote, how different groups of people voted, and how they feel about some of the most important issues of the campaign.

The first results of this year’s exit polls will be reported after 5 pm (Miami time) on Election Day. Data that could characterize the outcome of a race is not reported until after the polls close.

Exit polls are conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool on behalf of a consortium of media companies: , ABC, CBS and NBC. They get their name because Election Day interviewers are located outside approximately 500 voting centers across the country, where they conduct surveys of a randomly selected sample of voters who have just cast their ballots. Voting centers were selected through random sampling, meaning the resulting interviews should be representative of Election Day voters at the state or national level. Interviewers call to report their results several times during the day, which means the initial numbers will likely change as more information is received.

But the exit poll doesn’t begin on Election Day: It also seeks to represent the opinions of the millions of Americans who cast their ballots before Nov. 5. Interviewers are also located at approximately 100 in-person early voting centers in some states.

And the results also include voters who cast early absentee ballots or voted by mail. This portion of the electorate is contacted through traditional pre-election surveys, which are conducted by calling, emailing, and texting people selected from lists of all registered voters.

In addition to the national exit poll, exit polls are also conducted in specific states with key and competitive presidential or lower-level races. This year, those states include Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

In-person exit surveys are conducted using paper surveys that respondents complete themselves; those contacted by email or text answer questions online, while those contacted by phone answer questions asked by a live interviewer. Each exit survey includes about 20 to 25 questions and is designed to take about five minutes to complete. Each voter’s responses are anonymous.

Ultimately, the exit polls will include interviews with tens of thousands of voters. That reach makes them a powerful tool for understanding the demographic profile and political opinions of voters in this year’s elections. And their findings will eventually be weighed against the final benchmark: the results of the election itself.

Still, exit polls are still polls, with margins of error, which means they are most useful when treated as estimates, rather than precise measurements. That’s particularly true for the early exit poll numbers, which will not yet have been adjusted to match the final election results.

‘s Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report