Exit polling occupies a specific niche in election analysis: it’s the only widely used method that surveys actual voters about how they voted, rather than inferring intent from a sample of the general population before votes are cast. That makes it a genuinely useful independent data point when interpreted with appropriate statistical caution — and a source of confusion when its limitations aren’t well understood.
This section explores both sides of that coin: how exit polling methodology works, what its known limitations are, and how independent citizen-organized exit polling efforts have historically attempted to supplement official results with an additional layer of public, transparent data.