What is Push Polling & What Can I Do about it?
Push polling happens when someone contacts you as part of a propaganda effort but represents themselves as legitimate. It's done to alter election outcomes. There are many different types. It's supposed to have been outlawed, but it was documented in November of 2018. When a Mississippi US Senate race went to a runoff, many voters were contacted after the election and before the runoff. Some were told that because they voted in the original election, they did not need to vote in the runoff. These voters were told their original votes 'automatically counted' in the runoff. This is NOT true, and voters who didn't vote in both the first election and the runoff wouldn't have their votes counted for each race. People who tell voters this are push polling, and it’s a very serious voter suppression effort intended to keep you away from the polls and decrease voter turnout. https://www.gregpalast.com/mississippi-mike-espy-makes-stunning-charge-of-new-vote-suppression-tactic/
Another example of push polling happened when voters were asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate if they knew that the candidate was the father of a child born out of wedlock. That “poll” gave false information and was intended to keep people from voting as they’d planned. http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/
If you get calls from someone who claims to be with a poll, you have the right to ask who the person represents and what the source of their information is. A legitimate place will tell you, and you can make sure their information is correct online, or contact your board of elections if they claim you don’t need to vote or have “already been counted.”
If anyone tells you that being registered or a member of a political party or having voted in an earlier election means you don’t need to vote, that is false. Your vote only counts if you go to the polls (or vote absentee/by mail, per your state’s rules) and cast it. Even with a runoff, you have to vote in that race—your prior vote does not carry over and get counted. Make sure to vote each time, and let your family and friends know how to avoid falling for push polling. Information is the best weapon against voter suppression. Thank you for being a voter!
