Why Is Exit Polling Data on Black Voters So Scant, Late, Underused?
It is appalling, therefore, although not surprising, that exit polling data about African-American voters–women and men–are treated so indifferently. These data, showing black voter participation as a significant determinant of outcomes in a number of races, are totally unavailable to those outside the media organizations who own the data collected by the Voter News Service until later this month. Unfortunately, reporters having immediate access to these rich statistics have not found them to be consequential to their in-depth, post-election observations and analysis, thus implying, by omission, their irrelevance. Adding to this indifference toward the details of black voter demographics and participation has been the equally dismissive attitudes by the mass media and mainstream commentary about African-American perspectives on the election. Very few, if any, black pundits, and reportedly no black women, have appeared on major network television or radio to assess the impact of Afric
